Can I Recover Lost Data from an Android?

We all typically have important data stored on our computers and smartphones. Most of us store that data locally, meaning you could lose everything if something were to happen to your computer or phone.

So, have you ever considered what would happen if all of your data was lost and you didn’t have a backup? What would you do?

Data loss is a big annoyance that wreaks havoc on the day-to-day operations of any information-based company. When essential data and documents go missing, your company will have to spend time and resources recreating or retrieving these files to fill the gaps left by the loss. While hard copies of information may be found, they may not be as up-to-date as their lost digital counterparts.

If you want to know how to recover lost data from your Android device without any backup, you’ve come to the right place.

Reasons for Data Loss

Data loss is a common issue when it comes to Android devices. Nothing can ensure the safety of your digital assets, no matter how diligent you are. Data loss can happen in various ways.

Data loss can be minor or catastrophic, depending on what was lost. Even in the best-case scenario, you’ll have to devote time and money to recover it during forensic data analysis.

The main reason behind the data loss is that people are not backing up their important files. Many reasons can cause data loss from Android devices. Some of them are listed below:

• Accidental deletion: Your files may get deleted accidentally when you press the delete button on your keyboard or by pressing the delete button on your device.
• Virus attack: If you have an infected device, it may result in data loss. It also includes damage to files due to a virus attack.
• Hard Reset: If you want to reset or clear all data from your android phone, you will lose all the app data and settings. So, in this case, there is no other way to recover deleted files from an external source like a computer or cloud storage.
• SD card malfunctioning: If your SD card gets damaged or corrupted, it can cause data loss from your device and laptops or PCs that use SD cards for storage purposes.
• Corruption of software: Data can be lost due to software crashes that request data. If the software fails while updating several files, some files may fail to save or update, resulting in their destruction.
• Power Failures: Sudden power outages may result in data loss by damaging hardware and causing the operating system to malfunction. Sometimes, computers cannot reboot, so they can’t access data. Suddenly increasing voltage (usually) can lead to data loss and damage to computer hardware.
• Damaged Device: If your android device gets damaged due to water damage or any other reason, all the data on it will be lost because of hardware failures.

Recovering Lost Data Without Any Backup

Losing important data can be a nightmare for any individual or business. While having a data backup is the best way to ensure you don’t lose your data, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and you end up losing your data without any backup. Several common causes of data loss include power outages, human error, and hardware failure. However, you can still recover your lost data with the right tools and approach.

One way to recover lost data is by using the Windows File Recovery tool, which can recover deleted files from your computer’s hard drive, external storage, and even from flash storage. Another option is to check if your cloud storage services have previous versions of the file you lost. File-sharing services also have a trash bin where deleted files are temporarily stored, and you can retrieve them before they are permanently deleted.

Additionally, it’s important to note that different file types may have different recovery methods. For example, photos can be recovered by using specialized software.

Here are some options for recovering data from your Android device, regardless of how or why it was deleted.

Recovering Lost Data Using CMD

When you lose your data, the first thing you should do is try to find it on your device again. If you have not synced the device with Google Drive or another cloud service, you can use the CMD to locate it and lock it remotely.

Command Prompt (CMD) is a command-line interpreter built into Windows. It’s a powerful tool for troubleshooting and system administration, but it can also be used to recover lost files.

This method can only work if the battery has not been completely discharged or the phone has not been reset after losing the data. If these conditions are met, it’s worth trying this method before going ahead with other options.’

Get Back Data Directly from the Recycle Bin

If you have deleted a video or image file, it will be saved in the Recycle Bin. You can quickly get back such files using this method.

Steps:

1) Go to Settings> Storage & USB.

2) Tap on Internal Storage or SD Card, depending on where you want to look for your Recycle Bin.

3) You will see two options: ‘ Recycle Bin’ and ‘Clear Data. Tap on Clear Data to delete all data from that folder.

4) Go back to the previous page by tapping the Home button and then tap on the Recycle Bin option again. When you open the folder, all deleted files will be displayed there, along with other files that were not deleted earlier.

Deep Scan

It would help if you first tried to connect your phone to a computer and open its storage location through a file explorer. If you find the deleted data there, it’s easy to restore it by copying or moving the files to your computer. If not, try performing a deep scan on your phone using third-party software.

Use Recovery Software

To recover your lost data, you can use the Android Data Recovery tool, which can help you easily recover all types of data from your Android quickly.

Data recovery software is designed to recover lost files from storage devices like hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, etc. The main advantage of this software is that it can recover files from formatted drives. This means that if you have accidentally formatted your hard drive or memory card, then it will still be able to retrieve all the lost files from them.

There are many options available in the market. Still, before buying, anyone makes sure that it supports all the latest versions of android devices and has a sound customer support system.

Final Verdict

Every user has experienced data loss in a variety of ways. When you accidentally delete pictures or videos from your device’s storage or your essential company data gets lost, you feel like it’s the end of the world. But there’s no need to worry because you can get all your data back if you follow our best practices.

Data safety and security have become a top priority for every company within the fast-paced business world where everything is done digitally. With data storage, recovery, and backup solutions from Protected Harbor, you can be assured your data is secure.

Our mobile security keeps your employees connected and productive while protecting sensitive data and company assets. Network security ensures reliable, high-speed connections for your employees and guests while safeguarding your network from outside threats. Data security and isolated backups protect your organization’s most critical asset — its data — from internal and external threats and fast recovery to keep your business up and running.

With the right approach, you can retrieve your lost data.

Contact our data experts today to learn about data safety and security procedures and how we keep your data backed up and always accessible in an emergency.

Malware Hits Millions of Android Users:

The Top 5 Apps You Need to Uninstall Right Now

There’s nothing scarier than malware. When it comes to Android apps, users always have to look for possible threats. However, things are not as simple as they may seem. Researchers at Check Point discovered a new strain of malware called a, “false positive,” that targets users through Google Play by uploading malicious apps under user-friendly names.

This is how it works:

The malware tricks you into installing a seemingly harmless app onto your phone. But once you install it, the app will download other malicious apps and start reading your sensitive data without your permission or knowledge. You might be wondering about which apps are putting you at risk, but don’t worry, we have you covered.

Here’s a brief list of the top 5 offenders, which you need to uninstall immediately if you haven’t done so yet.

So, What Happened?

Another group of seemingly innocent Android apps that are meant to spread malware to endpoints and charge unsuspecting users for services has been discovered by researchers.

The Dr. Web antivirus team found the most recent batch, including wallpaper programs, keyboards, picture editors, video editors, and an occasional cache cleaner or system maintenance app. They have altogether received more than 10 million downloads overall.

After escaping Google’s stringent security measures, twenty-eight apps in total were discovered in the Google Play Store. You can see the complete list of infected android apps here.

Android Apps Hacked

Regarding the damages, the method is mainly unchanged.

Once the malware or “app,” is downloaded, most applications will try to hide, appearing as regular system apps in the app drawer. They do this with the hope that people won’t uninstall them. Then, to generate more revenue, the applications constantly push advertisements and try to sign the victim up for various premium services.

If users hadn’t granted the necessary permissions to the apps, none of this would have been possible. Even though the apps have a straightforward design and do what they claim to, they frequently request advanced permissions from users, such as the right to be exempt from battery-saving features, to run in the background even after the user closes the app, which is a big warning sign in and of itself.

Three of the apps are still available on the Play Store, though most have already been removed. Even if all of the apps were removed, they have still been downloaded millions of times. Thus, they will continue to pose a threat until they are completely deleted from the smartphones of all victims.

Below is a short list of the 5 malicious apps researchers have found that you should remove immediately:

FastCleaner: Cache Cleaner

Before Google discovered the true intentions of the app, Fast Cleaner had amassed over 50,000 installs. Using a time-tested technique, a brand-new banking trojan was introduced into the Android handsets of unsuspecting users across the country designed to steal login information as well as to intercept text messages and notifications without anybody noticing anything strange.

ES File Explorer

The most well-known file explorer app was probably ES File Explorer. That’s because five years ago, it was actually a really good app.

So, why is bad?  Bloatware and adware were prevalent within the free edition, and users were constantly nagged to download more apps via pop-up notifications that you couldn’t turn off. However, things worsened when the once-popular app was removed from the Play Store for engaging in click fraud through its advertisements.

For those unaware, click fraud is the practice of secretly clicking background advertisements on consumers’ devices.

You can still download dozens more imitators from the Play Store in addition to the ES File Explorer APK nowadays. However, the program should not be used in any of its iterations.

Virus Cleaner

Virus Cleaner – Antivirus Free and Phone Cleaner by Super Cleaner Studio, an app with over 14 million downloads, illustrates everything wrong with the Android ecosystem. It includes many advertisements, many of which are for products and services with a dubious reputation. Additionally, it “claims” to be an efficient security master, phone trash cleaner, WIFI security, super speed booster, battery saver, CPU cooler, and notification cleaner. None of which can at all be accomplished to any real degree by any software install.

Really, you should be ignoring any application that claims to be a “CPU cooler.”

SuperVPN Free

SuperVPN is one of the most popular VPN apps for Android, with over 100 million downloads. But earlier this year, cybersecurity experts alleged that the app has some serious flaws that might let hackers launch Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks and steal user data like credit card numbers, photographs, and private chats.

According to reports, hackers can also take advantage of the flaws to redirect a user’s connection to harmful websites, thus jeopardizing the security and privacy of the user.

Notes – Reminders & Lists

It is recommended not to download this app from its official website as there are concerns regarding its security and safety. It was detected by many anti-virus software systems as malicious. This app may be a scam as it doesn’t seem to work properly and asks for inappropriate permissions. So far, Notes – Reminders & Lists are not available in Google’s Play Store. It can only be downloaded from its official website. Either way, we recommend you staying far away from this app, as it might be a scam and may have malware hidden inside.

Conclusion

It can be challenging to differentiate between trustworthy and malicious apps. The number of pointless permissions an app requests is the one clear sign that should always cause alarm. Does a flashlight app really need access to your location? Does a cleaning app really need access to the camera or microphone?

Richard Luna, CEO of Protected Harbor, stated: “This attack is not a surprise; it should be expected.  As more work is performed on mobile devices, those devices, like desktops, will be the main point of attack.  Application development platforms must be better hardened to defend against this malware.

What can an end user do? Enable security and Two-Factor Authentication on as many platforms and applications as available on any platform.  If you are concerned, use a desktop over a mobile device, desktops have been dealing with this type of attack for decades.”

Nick Solimando, Director of Technology at Protected Harbor, has 3 tips for businesses that operate through a lot of mobile apps:

1. Only install mobile apps from providers you trust. Since harmful programs are getting better at hiding in plain sight, downloading from reputable sites is no longer the only recommendation.
2. Always check the app store ratings and reviews before downloading. Users should check the reviews because they offer a reliable indication of the apps’ reliability. Additionally, be sure to verify, as threat actors have been known to spoof some of them. It’s better to avoid an app if there are few reviews for it.
3. Periodically go through your mobile device and uninstall extra apps you no longer use. This will not only make you safe, but you’ll also ease memory space.

Despite Google’s constant efforts, thousands of risky apps, including malware, adware, spyware, and bloatware, may be found on the Play Store. The ones above have made it onto our list since they are some of the most frequently utilized risky Android apps.

These apps are very common and can be found on every device. However, they have been infected by malware, so they will likely try and more than likely, successfully steal your data. It’s best to uninstall them and proceed with extreme caution if you can. Always keep your device as well as apps up-to-date and avoid using third-party app stores. Android users can stay safe from potential threats by installing and keeping the latest version of their mobile operating system and using security software for mobile devices.

Protected Harbor uses the latest threat detection and prevention technology to keep your network safe and secure. Our devices are also updated regularly, keeping them secure and up to date with the latest security patches. Our software is installed in your systems to monitor suspicious activity – it can be installed on desktops, laptops, or in the cloud.

We secure your endpoints so that you can be assured your network is protected from malware and cyber threats. We protect your network by monitoring critical network assets, preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information, blacklisting malicious software, and providing real-time threat detection and response.

We are giving a free IT Audit and penetration testing for a limited time, contact us today and get one.