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Blog — Data Recovery and Cybersecurity

Technical analyses, prevention tips and data recovery news from the experts at SOS Data Recovery, Swiss laboratory since 2006.

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Why read our data recovery blog?

The SOS Data Recovery blog covers all topics related to data recovery, cybersecurity and the protection of digital storage media. Our experts share in-depth technical analyses, prevention tips and insights from over 20 years of laboratory experience.

Whether you are an individual looking to protect your photos and documents, or an IT professional managing RAID servers and NAS systems, you will find practical, verified information here. SOS Data Recovery is CyberSafe certified and CyberSafe partner and rated 4.8/5 on Avis Vérifiés (296 reviews).

Our articles : #how-to guide

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Recovering Data from a Mac: Soldered SSD, T2 Chip and FileVault

On a recent Mac, the SSD is no longer a part you remove to read the data elsewhere: it is soldered to the logic board, and its contents are permanently encrypted by the chip, the T2 on Intel models and the Secure Enclave built into the processor on Apple Silicon M1 to M4. The decryption keys live inside this processor, and if it dies, they are lost, for everyone, Apple included. This guide explains why moving or desoldering the SSD achieves nothing, and why recovery goes through repairing the logic board to restore access to the keys. You will understand the real role of the T2 chip, the software layer FileVault adds, the Fusion Drive trap on older Macs, and above all what really remains recoverable. Two instincts follow: be wary of promises to recover everything, and back up with Time Machine and iCloud.

September 09, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#how-to guide #SSD

Data loss: the right moves in the first 24 hours

After a data loss, there is no single right move, there is the right move for your problem. This guide helps you recognise which case you are in and act correctly in the first hours. One reflex applies to all: switch the device off quickly (phone, drive, NAS, RAID) and do not tinker with anything before having it analysed. Some situations keep getting worse and require acting fast: water, extinguisher powder and chemicals, which eat away at the hardware even when powered off, as well as ransomware, TRIM on SSD and updates, which run as long as the machine is on. Others, mechanical failure, short circuit, formatting or deleted files, freeze once switched off and can wait. You will also discover the two pitfalls that doom your data: repeatedly restarting a drive and launching a RAID rebuild after an earlier failure.

September 03, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Backup #Crisis Management #Data protection #how-to guide #Server

Broken Smartphone or Black Screen: Can You Still Recover Photos and Messages?

A broken or black screen almost never means that your photos and messages are lost: most often, the phone's memory is intact and it is the screen, or a part around it, that is at fault. This guide explains what really happens when a screen breaks, why you need a working screen to unlock the device and access it, and how a screen breaks down into three layers (backlight, display, touch) whose failure changes the symptom. It also details the real wall of data recovery on a modern smartphone: encryption, which makes chip-off useless and turns a destroyed encryption chip into a lost key. Finally, you will understand why your unlock code is irreplaceable, why you must never force repeated attempts, and how far a properly equipped lab can go to power your phone back on and extract its data.

July 20, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#how-to guide #Mobile security

How to Choose a Data Recovery Laboratory: The Criteria That Really Matter

How do you choose a data recovery laboratory without making a mistake? This guide details the four criteria that really matter: a genuine cleanroom, ideally a laminar flow hood, essential for opening a drive and changing the read heads; data processing that is actually carried out on site, because a Swiss laboratory does not guarantee processing in Switzerland and many are only intermediaries that ship abroad; transparent pricing with a free analysis and quote, a firm price announced in advance and only a small amount in case of failure; and the absence of hidden subcontracting, with its consequences for confidentiality, the Swiss Data Protection Act and the court with jurisdiction in the event of a dispute. You will also learn which false signals to ignore, reviews that are too perfect and spectacular success rates, along with the five direct questions that are enough to unmask a dubious provider before you entrust your device to it.

July 11, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Data protection #how-to guide #Swiss SME

SSD: Why Data Recovery Has Nothing to Do With a Hard Drive

Recovering data from an SSD has almost nothing in common with a hard drive. There are no platters and no read/write heads here, but NAND memory chips driven by a controller, a bit like a USB stick, only far more complex. This difference in nature changes everything: the data is not stored where the system thinks it is, TRIM genuinely erases what you delete within minutes, and hardware encryption can lock everything away if the controller dies. This guide explains how an SSD is built, why recovering one is a trade of its own, and which failures come up most often: faulty controller, corrupted firmware, power surge, cold solder joint. You will also discover the puzzle of invisible BGA solder joints, what a lab really does (tools such as the PC-3000, firmware repair, desoldering and reading the chips), and above all the right moves: stop the device and never run a secure erase.

June 23, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Backup #how-to guide #SSD

Data Recovery After a Fire: What Heat Really Destroys (and What Survives)

Is a hard drive pulled from a fire lost? Far less often than people think. This guide explains why the chances of recovery after a fire are often good, especially for hard drives: the device is rarely exposed bare to the flames, and its metal tower, or even the melted material of the equipment, acts as a shield. You will learn the three forms of damage from a fire (heat, corrosive soot, extinguishing water), what makes a device truly unrecoverable, and the real work of a laboratory: thorough cleaning, replacement of the electronics, cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, opening in a cleanroom and migrating the platters to a donor drive. Above all, two vital reflexes: plug nothing back in, open or clean nothing yourself, and do not wait for the insurer or the cleaning company, because acidic soot keeps eating away and every day counts.

June 14, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Crisis Management #Data protection #how-to guide

Unreadable or Corrupted SD Card: How to Save Your Photos and Videos

Is your SD card showing an error, no longer detected, or asking you to format it? Before you panic, this guide explains the right reflexes: stop taking photos or filming, never format, and start with the mundane causes such as the small write-protection latch. You will learn what a memory card really contains, why modern microSD cards are monoliths that complicate recovery, and what each error message means. The guide details the cases specific to photo and video: the GoPro or drone video cut off in mid-recording, the wear of heavily used dashcam cards, and the trap of counterfeit cards with false capacity. Finally, it shows what a laboratory really does, from chip-off to reading via test points, and reminds you that an SD card is never a backup.

June 05, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Data protection #how-to guide #Memory Card

USB Flash Drive Not Recognised: What to Do (and Not Do)

Is your USB flash drive no longer recognised, showing a nonsensical size or asking to be formatted? Above all, do not format it and stop writing anything to it: in most cases, your files are still present in the memory chip, and the fault lies with the connector, the controller or a corrupted allocation table, not with the data. This guide explains what is really inside a USB flash drive, how to interpret each symptom (wrong size, the “please format” message, a drive not detected) and why the notorious format message is a trap you must never accept. You will also discover what a laboratory actually does when the controller is dead: unsoldering the NAND chip (chip-off), reading a monolith through the test points, then reconstructing the data by algorithms. Finally, the right moves to adopt and why a USB flash drive is never a backup.

May 27, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Data protection #how-to guide #Memory Card

I Formatted or Deleted by Mistake: Your Real Chances of Recovery (and the Error That Destroys Everything)

Deleting a file or formatting a drive does not physically erase it: on a hard drive, the data stays on the platters as long as no new data has been written over it. Your chances of recovery after an accidental deletion or format are therefore often good, on one imperative condition: stop using the device immediately. This guide explains why deleting is not erasing, how the allocation table (the drive's table of contents) works, and where the real danger lies: overwriting, caused by updates, antivirus or defragmentation that write into the freed space. You will understand the decisive difference between a hard drive and an SSD (where TRIM erases fast), between a quick and a full format, and above all why the recovery software you download can destroy what it claims to save. Finally, how a lab protects your device with a bit-for-bit copy before any intervention.

May 09, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Backup #Data protection #how-to guide

Smartphone Dropped in Water: The Right Response (and the Mistake That Destroys Your Data)

Has your smartphone fallen into water? In the vast majority of cases it survives, on one condition: do not put it back on charge. This guide explains why the real danger is not the fall but the plugging into the mains that follows, the one that triggers electrolytic corrosion and destroys the electronics within minutes. You will discover the right steps minute by minute: switch it off at once, save the essentials to a friend or relative while the device still works, dry it without excessive heat, and above all forget the bowl of rice, useless and time-consuming. A table helps you read the symptoms (no longer starts, no longer charges, faulty screen) and understand what they imply. Finally, the guide covers the serious cases, salt water and a deep fall, and what a laboratory does when faced with two soldered boards that no do-it-yourself can save.

April 12, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Data protection #how-to guide #Mobile security

Blog — Data Recovery and Cybersecurity

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