Why We Should Wipe Free Disk Space

Computers have certainly taken the world by storm. With the advent of the Internet and the fact that it makes the world move at a faster pace, it is no wonder why more and more companies are turning to the Internet to foster more sales and stable profit for their own selves. But with these advantages come many disadvantages as well. This is because for as long as you are hooked to the Internet, there will always be the risk of hackers making their way into your system. After all, hackers do have their own hands when it comes to developing sophisticated tools to breach the security of companies all over the world. Thus, when you are delving into online businesses, it is important to familiarize yourself with the need to wipe free disk space.

Now, why exactly do you need to wipe the free disk space of your computer? Wouldn’t the mere deletion of files be enough to keep your system secure? Not necessarily. With the help of specially designed software applications, hackers can actually retrieve the files that you delete from your computer, so as long as he or she has gained access into your network of files already. Accessing your network could be easy enough for any hacker, and with these sophisticated tools, retrieving deleted files becomes much easier as well. Thus, do not make the common assumption that deleting files from your computer is already enough.

When you create any sort of file in your system, what happens here is that there is actually a certain memory space that is assigned to that file. That memory space is unique to that particular file. Now, when you delete that file, it would then be transferred to the Recycle Bin. When you empty your Recycle Bin, you then get rid of the file effectively, right? Wrong. The memory space that was once assigned to the deleted file remains in existence. As long as this still exists, hackers can do whatever it takes on their end to retrieve that file. And when there is enough motivation on the part of the hacker, there’s no knowing what he or she is capable of doing.

Here lies the importance of wiping free disk space when you have just deleted certain files. There are applications that have been specially developed for just that purpose. What happens here then? When you wipe your computer’s free disk space, you are actually overwriting the existing memory space over and over again until such time that the space that once was is no longer in existence. The best that hackers can retrieve would be fragments or pieces of the file that once was. It would be very difficult for them to piece these fragments and pieces back together so they just might give up their efforts altogether.

If you want to have applications that can wipe free disk space, you can easily find them in any computer shop, both physical and virtual. These would inevitably come with many features so be sure to get the application that has features that suit your needs the best.