Frequently Asked Questions about Cyber Security:

Data Recovery FAQs:

Answers about Cyber Security

5. How does cybersecurity affect our personal lives?

Cybersecurity directly impacts our personal lives, as it protects our privacy and helps us avoid cyber threats that may harm us financially and psychologically. A safe online environment means we can confidently use our digital devices and services, knowing that our data is protected.

With the spread of social media and electronic transactions, it is more important than ever to ensure that our information does not fall into the wrong hands. For example, cybersecurity prevents situations such as identity theft and financial extortion, which can dramatically affect our quality of life.

We must also emphasize that cybersecurity helps protect our reputation and relationships, preventing unwanted breaches that could expose sensitive information.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

6. How does cybersecurity protect businesses?

Cybersecurity is essential for businesses. It protects them from the many and varied threats that lurk on the Internet, ensuring that their data and operations remain safe and secure. A business’s systems are protected from any breach or malicious attack by implementing advanced security technologies, such as firewalls and antivirus software.

Additionally, cybersecurity helps avoid the costs and reputational damage that result from successful cyberattacks. Businesses that protect their data and systems gain their customers’ trust by assuring them that their personal data is kept confidential.

In a business environment where attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, investing in cybersecurity is a protection and a competitive advantage. With a secure and resilient system, a business can focus on its strategic growth without fear of cyberattacks that could disrupt operations or damage customer trust.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

7. What are the best antivirus and anti-malware software?

Antivirus and anti-malware software are key tools for defending against digital threats. Among the leading systems TicTac markets and supports are Comodo Antivirus (Xcitium), Acronis, and Digimune. Each of these software offers specialized protection capabilities and options so that users can meet their needs depending on their environment, whether personal or professional.

Acronis, for example, stands out for its advanced backup and disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring real-time data protection and access. At the same time, Comodo Antivirus offers strong protection on any device you access, preventing malware and online threats. Digimune specializes in digital identity and social media protection, providing comprehensive solutions for individuals and businesses.

Take a detailed look at our products and find the solution that best serves you.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

8. What are the best practices for data protection?

Data protection requires several good practices that help minimize the risks of a breach. First and foremost, it is essential to use strong and unique passwords for each account. Passwords should be updated regularly and include a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols for increased security.

Data encryption is another essential practice, ensuring data remains secure even if someone gains access. Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) is also very important, as it provides additional protection beyond a password. Additionally, maintaining a data backup ensures that the data can be easily recovered in case of loss.

Equally critical is educating users on recognizing threats, such as phishing emails and suspicious links. Finally, choosing reliable antivirus software and regularly updating the system helps protect against cyber threats.

To better protect your data, constant updating and vigilance are required to maintain security at high levels.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

9. What is encryption, and how does it enhance security?

Encryption is the process of converting data and information into a coded form that is readable only by those who have the appropriate decryption key.

This technique protects data from unauthorized access, making its content incomprehensible to anyone who does not have the key to decrypt it.

Encryption is used in many applications, from protecting files and emails to transactions on online platforms and protecting data stored on devices.

For example, when we use ” https ” on a website, the data transferred between the browser and the website server is encrypted, ensuring that communication with the website remains secure and protected from third parties.

Encryption increases security by preventing attackers from understanding or exploiting data, even if they manage to obtain it. In addition, it is a valuable tool for protecting privacy and enhancing user trust in digital services. Encryption is an integral part of the security strategy in environments that require high levels of security.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

10. What are the differences between a cybercriminal and a hacker?

The terms ” hacker ” and ” cybercriminal ” are often used interchangeably, but they represent different roles in technology and security.

A cybercriminal is someone who uses their skills to gain access to information and data for the purpose of financial gain, theft, or data exploitation. Cybercriminals typically target businesses and individuals, compromising systems for profit through phishing, ransomware, and other attacks.

Hackers, on the other hand, are not necessarily malicious. There are different types of hackers, such as ” white hat ” hackers, who work to enhance the security of a system, ” black hat ” hackers, who compromise systems for personal gain, and ” grey hat ” hackers, who may operate in questionable ethical contexts, identifying security vulnerabilities without always seeking the approval of organizations.

Therefore, while every cybercriminal is malicious, a hacker can be protective (white hat), aggressive (black hat), or somewhere between. This distinction is important for understanding a hacker’s role in cybersecurity, as “white hat” hackers help organizations identify vulnerabilities and improve their defenses.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

11. What is the cost to install cybersecurity software?

The cost of installing cybersecurity software can vary depending on the type and capabilities of the software needed.

For small businesses or individual users, basic antivirus and firewall solutions start at a few tens of euros per year. For more specialized requirements, such as threat monitoring tools and network protection solutions, the cost can range from hundreds to thousands of euros per year, especially for solutions that require ongoing updates and technical support.

Additionally, some businesses opt for Managed Security Services, where costs vary depending on the level of protection, scope of services, and company size. While more expensive, this model is particularly beneficial for small and large businesses that do not have an in-house IT team.

Depending on the needs of the business and the tools available, options and costs can vary significantly, so it is important to evaluate the features offered and choose the solution that provides the best protection within the available budget.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

At TicTac, we provide educational materials and VIP seminars that help students take the first steps toward more advanced knowledge.

Whether you are a beginner or want specialized training, you will find courses covering everything from personal data protection to threat analysis and response.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

13. Which services offer 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring?

Services that offer 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring mainly include MDR (Managed Detection and Response) solutions, ensuring continuous surveillance and protection of business networks and devices. MDR allows for the immediate detection and response of threats by specialized cybersecurity teams, even while you sleep, thus ensuring that your business’s critical data and infrastructure remain safe from cyberattacks.

At TicTac, our team provides 24/7 monitoring and immediate response to threats, utilizing state-of-the-art tools to continuously secure your digital life.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

Data Recovery Answers

1. What is Data Recovery?

Data recovery is the process of rescuing data that is inaccessible for any reason from a storage medium, whether due to mechanical damage, system failure, or user error.

Data Recovery is a specialized branch of IT that exclusively deals with restoring data inaccessible to the user. This process involves technicians with specialized knowledge and special equipment and is governed by strict rules to ensure the best possible success rate.

You can see more information about data recovery.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

2. When should I contact a data recovery company?

We primarily turn to a data recovery company when the data we have lost (either from unintentional deletion, incorrect formatting, or damage to the storage medium) is of greater value to you than the storage medium itself.

In other words, we don’t go to a company that will take 10 days to repair a 50€ disk if we are only interested in saving the storage medium. In practice, if we make a proper Backup, we don’t need a data recovery company, as if we have our data in 2 places, it won’t be lost easily.

Because the data recovery process needs to be done correctly and not through experimentation, that is, by experienced engineers and proper equipment, it is a particularly expensive and usually time-consuming process.

Therefore, we go to a data recovery company if we do not have access to data that is very important to us for any reason, and we do not want to experiment because doing so may make things worse.

Because data recovery costs usually range between 150€ and 800€, we do not turn to a data recovery company to save videos or MP3s that we can find again…

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

3. How much does data recovery cost? What does the cost depend on?

To operate a proper data recovery lab, the following is required:

Specialized Personnel: Data recovery engineers are mainly computer engineers who are highly skilled in the mechanical and electronic operation of storage media. In Greece, the people involved in this field are extremely specialized.
Special diagnostic tools (which cost thousands of euros to purchase and maintain annually) for hard drives, USB Sticks, and RAID systems allow the engineer to tamper with the Firmware and internal functions of the storage media, provided he has the knowledge.
A special laboratory space with a Laminar Flow Cabinet allows hard drives to be opened without dust particles entering their interior.
Wide availability of different compatible spare parts (donor disks and boards for spare parts)
Continuous training of staff on the faults of the newest models

The above operating costs of a data recovery company are allocated to an exceptionally high labor-hour cost for the client’s billing.

You can see Indicative Data Recovery Prices here.

The price is calculated by an algorithm that is directly influenced by the engineer’s working hours, the working hours of the storage medium in the laboratory’s limited work positions, the risk of recovery failure in the specific model, and the cost of spare parts.

It should be noted that mechanical or electronic problems often result in very high costs for spare parts, as they are not compatible with each other, are difficult to find, and are very expensive.

See also the answer: What is a donor disk and why is it so expensive?

Finally, as you can see, due to the above parameters, data recovery companies in each country are few in number and even fewer produce results.

This happens because a company only lasts over time if it delivers good results.

Many people start this work as amateurs and without large investments. Still, due to their experimentation and lack of experience, they unfortunately cause their clients to lose data or can only deal with the easy problems of the field.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

4. If I buy a data recovery application, can’t I do the recovery myself?

It depends on the problem. We divide the data recovery process into two types.

Logical Data Recovery: where we recover files from accidental deletion, corrupted partitions, accidental formatting, and other filesystem-level corruptions.
Physical Data Recovery: We recover files from storage mediums with mechanical, electronic, firmware, or platter damage.

Problems caused by logical damage can be resolved with software.

Some free programs can also help, as long as we know how to use them and do not do more damage, such as saving the recovered files to the same Drive from which we are recovering.

In this case, we will cause damage that is not reversible

Problems caused by physical damage have to do with the malfunction of the storage medium.

So, since the storage medium is not accessible by your operating system, data recovery software cannot help you, since their commands pass through the operating system.

> Return to the list of frequently asked question

5. Something happened to my hard drive, and it’s not working and making a strange sound. What can I do?

It is best not to take any action.

If your disk has a problem with its head and you connect the disk to another machine to try experimenting, then the defective head can destroy data on the platters (data surfaces) of the disk.

Also, if the disk has been dropped from a height and its head has been hit, it is particularly dangerous to plug the external disk back into the power supply because it can “scratch” the surface of the platters.

A disk that has been dropped or has a head problem must be opened in a special environment, and the defective head must be removed immediately to preserve the platters.

When the hard drive in general has a problem and you are really interested in the data on it, there is no room for experimentation.

At TicTac Laboratories, the sequence of actions that must be performed depending on the case is followed with absolute reverence to avoid damaging the disk platters where the data is located.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

6. Is there special software for data recovery?

One can find many professional data recovery programs and several free applications on the Internet.

However, if untrained individuals use these programs, it can cause the permanent loss of data. Once this happens, the data is irrecoverable, even by a specialized data recovery technician.

Data recovery from deletion, formatting, or incorrect user handling is usually done through specialized software. However, the key in such cases is to know the specific steps required to ensure the best possible rate of recovered data.

Even the best program can permanently erase information from the disk, overwriting it with new data if it is used incorrectly.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

7. Can’t I trust my technician to recover data if I happen to lose my data?

The data recovery process, whether it concerns software problems or mechanical problems, is a process with very delicate balances and little secrets that most computer technicians are unaware of. In case of mechanical damage to the medium, they do not require specialized equipment and laboratory facilities.

There are many cases where users have accidentally deleted or formatted files and resort to the company that provides them with technical support to recover their data.

While the service usually recovers some of the user’s files, technicians, lacking specialized expertise, often compromise the chance of restoring everything.

In a specialized data recovery laboratory, as long as the storage medium arrives as soon as possible, the chances of extracting 100% of the data after formatting or deletion are almost guaranteed. So, the question arises of how important your data is.

If they are unimportant, you can contact a non-specialized technician or try to recover your data.

However, if your data is very important and you cannot risk losing a percentage of it, then it is preferable to entrust your data to an experienced data recovery company that has good recommendations from its customers and a vast clie ntele.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

8. I read that I can take a board from the same drive and change it, is that true?

Searching the Internet, you can find several “techniques” for recovering data from a damaged hard drive. Some of them are valid for specific drive models, but they can cause permanent data loss on other models.

A faulty board in a disk model that is not intended to be replaced can provide excess current to the heads and possibly damage them, or even cause them to read and write to the wrong surface areas.

We never know how each model might behave. It makes sense to want to experiment with something insignificant to you, such as losing your job last week. That’s where you might be able to experiment.

But what if the broken disk contains 10 years of personal photos, or your company’s accounting program with all the records from the last 4 months?

What if it contains your doctoral dissertation work from the last 2 years?

It is very important to evaluate what is more valuable. To save yourself the high cost of a specialized data recovery company or the possibility of permanent data loss because you chose an unqualified technician or a YouTube video that showed you how to do data recovery yourself?

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

9. I’ve read that if my disc breaks, I can put it in the freezer, and it will fix it. Is that true?

This freezing solution for damaged discs was released several years ago. This rumor, however, hides a grain of truth. Many discs have been completely destroyed by it.

However, there were actually models with a problem with their “spindle,” which locked up and did not allow the platters to rotate.

This was due to high friction and severe overheating, which caused the shaft to expand, resulting in it moving again when placed in the freezer in a specific way.

However, this also had many risks, as the disk platters would contract and then expand again very quickly upon returning to room temperature.

This process usually results in the complete destruction of the disk platters and the permanent loss of data, as not even a specialized laboratory can recover a frozen disk.

If you care about your data, experimentation is something that can cost you much more than you imagine, as experimentation means that one wrong action can get some data, and another can destroy it forever.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

10. I used to change the heads on a disk myself, and it worked. Why can’t I do it now?

There were hard drive models that had high tolerance, both to external dust particles and external interventions.

Hard drives generally had much greater tolerances to external interference in the past.

However, this has changed over time because, without the essential technology of magnetic storage having changed, the capacity on the disk’s Platters has been condensed.

Therefore, if someone damaged it a few years ago (accidentally with their fingers, a scratch while changing heads), this may have simply caused them to lose some data from an area of the disk, even if they managed to get the disk working again.

This has now changed considerably, as if any damage occurs inside the disk, it will cost several Gigabytes of data or even the complete destruction of the disk.

Incorrect positioning of the heads after surgery can be fatal for the data.

Also, at one time, the models of disks in circulation had very similar heads.

Today, even a record with the same January production model may have a completely different head model in its new production in February.

If the head compatibility has not been carefully checked, it may create vibrations or behave differently from the disk’s Firmware commands, leading to scratches on the Plates.

When working with a hard drive, remember that each brand and model behaves differently.

Just because something you saw on YouTube worked on a Western Digital drive doesn’t mean it will work on a Seagate.

In a proper data recovery laboratory, changing heads is done in a special chamber (Clean Bench) that prevents dust particles from entering the disk. The process is done by an experienced engineer who has changed heads many times on the specific model (and preferably first on test disks and not on yours). At the same time, special metal structures are used to prevent human error.

This is done to prevent the disk from being damaged and to prevent even 10% of errors.

If a mistake is made, your disk risks becoming unrecoverable.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

11. What percentage of hard drive problems are recoverable? Is 100% data recovery always possible?

A large percentage of disks that malfunction without being shaken or dropped are fully recoverable, because the data surface is usually not damaged in such cases.

We would dare to say that if a disk has not been subjected to vibration or a fall and has a problem, it can be recovered up to 98% if it is taken immediately to a data recovery company.

For disks that have been dropped or shaken during operation, this percentage drops to approximately 85%.

This happens because if the disk head touches the surface of the data (platters) during operation, it causes a permanent scratch, resulting in permanent data loss.

If a disk has a mechanical problem and someone tries to boot it multiple times, the scratches on the surface can multiply, resulting in each boot with damaged heads, which can cause the loss of several Megabytes or Gigabytes, depending on the disk’s capacity.

For the above reasons, when a problem arises and the data on the disk is important, you should immediately contact a data recovery company.

On hard drives with mechanical problems, our success rates reach 92%.

In cases of data deletion or formatting, it is very important that you report the case to us immediately, as soon as you notice the data loss, and that you have not performed any actions on the storage medium. This way, we ensure better chances of recovery.

Of course, because data recovery in such cases is also a matter of luck (i.e., no new files have been dropped over the space where the files you want to recover were), the result is never a given. And this is not a matter of expertise, but a matter of luck.

In cases of data deletion/formatting, the recovery rates are close to 63%. Unfortunately, before customers bring us their storage medium, they experiment a lot and make entries or modifications to the file structure, which increases the chances.

Therefore, the chances of recovery and the percentage of files we will extract from a disk depend on the condition of the disk we receive.

No one can guarantee 100% since it is a task where you have to complete all the steps, be sure you have the files, and then try to estimate the percentage.

When it comes to a hard drive, we usually recover all the files on the storage medium in our lab.

If we do not recover all the files, the customer has the right not to pay the recovery fee.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

12. I have the well-known problem Click of Death. What should I do?

The term “Click of Death” has been circulating on the internet for some time, but it has not been emphasized on what can result from it.

The Click of Death describes the disk heads’ unsuccessful attempt to read the platters (individual data surfaces of the disk—they look like CDs).

This makes a “click, click, click, click…” sound that is either continuous or intermittent. In most cases, this sound indicates that the disk heads are damaged or worn out, or there is a problem on the disk surface, such as a scratch, which prevents the hard drive from starting.

Of course, there are cases where the problem may be in the hard drive’s firmware or its board. So we cannot be sure that it is specific just by giving a title to our problem.

To fix this problem, if possible, a full diagnosis of the individual parts of the disk or even its opening in a Clean Room for further conclusions is required. Therefore, if you have such a problem, you should first have it diagnosed by a data recovery company. Then, you will know if the disk is recoverable and at what cost.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

13. Why do they say the hard drive must be opened in a Clean Bench (Laminar Flow Cabinet) or a Clean Room?

It is well known that the disc’s interior is hermetically sealed and should not be opened.

This is partly true, as the disk is not hermetically sealed. There is always a small hole through which, through a filter, the interior of the disk is ventilated.

However, in the event of a problem, the disk should never be opened by a technician or by you, as this can cause permanent data loss due to the microparticles of dust in the atmosphere. Now, hard drives with storage capabilities have data encoded magnetically on the surface of platters in a particularly dense form.

A dust particle that touches either the platters or the edges of the disk head can be fatal. Considering that we can’t even see the dust particles, our everyday environment is particularly dangerous for an open disk, especially if it has more than two heads.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

14. Why is recovery from USB, memory card, and SSD drives so expensive? Isn’t it an easy task?

Usually, when a USB breaks, the problem is with its electronic circuit (PCB or Controller chip).

The part that contains our encoded data, however, is the NAND chips.

These are data storage chips, but they are encoded.

They contain data in hexadecimal format, which is uniquely divided across the chips.

The three common failure categories are electronic damage to the rarely repaired circuit, controller malfunction, and broken NAND chips. In the third case, recovery is impossible.

In the first case, the charges are not particularly high, while decoding the Chips is required in the second case. This part is particularly difficult, specialized, time-consuming, and requires sophisticated equipment (NAND Readers & Decoders).

A decoding process can take a few hours if the algorithm for solving the encoding has been previously found, or it can take months at a similar cost if the algorithm needs to be researched.

TicTac Laboratories has specialized staff and the latest technology in the field of NAND chip Recovery.

Even if others refuse recovery because it is difficult, TicTac Laboratories will transfer the final cost to the customer, and if the customer agrees, the goal will usually be achieved.

See customer recommendations for TicTac.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

15. There are many data recovery companies on the internet, which one should I choose?

Indeed, data recovery, due to the increased use of storage media, has increased significantly.

This has made the market respond accordingly to demand.

Companies that promise cheap recovery, ghost companies that don’t even have a headquarters or facilities, and only give their mobile phone number, technicians who have a well-designed website, and all kinds of tricksters who promise low prices to experiment with your data.

A data recovery company should have corporate facilities, staff, a specialized laboratory at its headquarters, equipment, procedures, infrastructure, and expertise that is ensured by being in the market for a long time, so that you can ensure that your data is in good hands.

How can you verify all this? Take a detailed look at the clientele & customer recommendations!

When you bring your drive to a data recovery company, ask where their labs are located and see the number of staff.

In most data recovery companies in Greece, the same person who spoke to you on the phone (the secretary) will be the same person who receives your disk. He is also the company technician and possibly the owner.

This should not happen to a large company that has invested in Data Recovery.

The technician should not perform secretarial duties. This small observation will give you the necessary tools to distinguish companies from individuals.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

16. Can I get quotes from multiple companies and choose the cheapest one?

Don’t forget that a storage medium cannot withstand many experiments when it is in an unstable state.

Price is not a criterion when your data is important and there is a risk of losing it forever.

Data recovery relies on the expertise and equipment available to each company.

It is only natural that a company that has invested in equipment and specialized staff will charge more because it has more capabilities. Also, having a responsibility towards its customers, a large company does not risk customer data by experimenting.

A company’s recommendations are an essential factor in choosing.

There are very few reliable data recovery companies in the Greek market, and for this reason, the right choice should be made at the beginning.

If you choose based on price and the first company makes a mistake due to a lack of equipment or expertise, it is most likely that even if you go to the largest Data Recovery company in Greece, they will not be able to help you because the previous company caused permanent damage.

Most drives classified as “unrecoverable” are those that have been taken to another unqualified technician, tampered with by the user themselves, or taken to small Data Recovery companies.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

17. I have found many companies on the internet promising free diagnostics. Why does TicTac charge for diagnostics? TicTac is the only company in Greece that charges the customer for disk diagnostics.

We have answered this question on the costs page. Please read the answer here…

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

18. Why is it important for a data recovery company to have years of experience?

TicTac Data Recovery Company was founded in 1999 in Greece, while TicTac Data Recovery Labs in Israel, which has been operating since 1995 and is one of the first data recovery companies in the world, transferred know-how and trained staff.

TicTac also has a branch in Cyprus. 20% of the company’s annual revenue is allocated to purchasing new equipment & staff training.

Throughout its operation, TicTac Laboratories has established its name in the IT market and has collaborated with many stores and companies in Greece and Europe.

TicTac Labs is by no means the company with the lowest prices; the IT world, especially technicians, knows this.

However, when it comes to their valuable data, customers have shown, with their trust over the years, that they must trust the expertise of the TicTac company without attempting to test it with unskilled technicians, as this would be taking a risk.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

19. What is a donor disk, and why is it so expensive and hard to find?

Many times, when we have a problem with the heads of a disk (i.e., a mechanical problem), the company is asked to purchase spare parts to be used as donors.

Just as in an operation, a healthy organ is required to replace a specific “sick” human organ, and the transplant is difficult to find because it must meet certain conditions; something similar happens in data recovery.

In some cases, one or more donor disks are needed to recover. A donor disk is a hard disk from which a healthy organ compatible with the “sick disk” will be removed and transplanted, replacing the damaged part.

There are very specific compatibility criteria for the “transplantation” of parts from the donor disc to the diseased disc. For example, we usually have 100% compatibility in spare parts between discs from the same factory series.

For example, if a factory starts manufacturing the XYZ00 model on Monday afternoon and finishes on Thursday morning, producing 8000 discs, one of those discs is compatible.

In the data recovery market, some dealers know that the various models with different features are hard to find and can be used for data recovery, so they stock up on all possible models. These will be resold at the right time at a multiple price.

In the data recovery market, we often pay up to 10 times the retail price of a disk simply because it is a compatible donor.

TicTac allows its customers to search for a compatible donor on their own and provides a separate price for donors and a separate price for labor if the customer wants to bring the spare parts themselves.

Our laboratory also has over 12,000 donor discs, ready to be used immediately when required, and a compatible donor is available.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

20. What confidentiality assurance do you provide? I have a disk containing personal photos or company documents. What assurance do I have?

TicTac is ISO 27001 certified for personal data protection, which means that safeguarding procedures are in place for customers’ personal and corporate data.

Several engineers may be involved in the recovery process. Still, when we finally have the final image of the storage medium, the files are extracted by a certified engineer who has signed a correspondingly strong confidentiality agreement with the company.

Beyond this, however, our extensive corporate clientele certifies that at TicTac, the security of your data is our business.

If a leak of corporate or personal data occurs in a recovery company, it is understandable that this company will have serious consequences for its clientele.

For this reason, our work stops at the recovery of the files, the creation of a list, and from there, the client himself examines (if he wishes, one by one) his files, in a specially designed office, with a laptop provided by the company with his data after recovery.

Clients can also check files via a remote connection application.

Upon completing the case, the company keeps a copy of the files for 10 days for your safety and then deletes them.

It is also important to understand that with the volume of cases we receive daily, our engineers do not have the time to deal with individual files.

Finally, because we manage a large volume of information, there is insufficient space to keep copies of the data for longer than 10 days.

Read more in the Customer Data Privacy and Security section.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

21. Why should I send my album to Greece and not to a company abroad?

Greece has the advantage of being, in general, an economic country in relation to the global economy.

This means that if data recovery costs X amount in Greece, it will usually cost twice as much in Italy or three times as much in Germany.

At TicTac Data Recovery, we have clients from abroad who send their clients’ drives permanently due to our extensive experience and competitive prices. For the safety of the devices during shipment, we offer packaging and shipping instructions for storage media, thus ensuring that our service remains more economical and reliable compared to their local options.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

22. What preparation is needed to send the disc? What should I do and what should I avoid?

First, let us inform you that the fewer actions you have taken on a disk, the easier it will be for a data recovery company to determine the initial problem with the disk.

If you don’t have access to the drive, it’s a good idea to try connecting it to another computer to see if you can access it.

On a few rare occasions, we have received disks for diagnosis. We simply connect them to another machine and view data, so we do not charge the customer unless they request a copy to another medium. You can try this before sending us the disk.

What you shouldn’t try if you’re not an experienced user:

If you hear a strange noise from the drive when connecting it, it means your drive has a mechanical problem. Do not try anything else as it may cause a bigger problem.
Do not change boards on drives unless you know what you are doing. Often, customers who try this can end up with an initial board problem or a mechanical problem as they burn the drive head, thus increasing the cost of recovery or causing the head to make erratic movements (due to different firmware) and risking scratches on the surface.
Never open the disc cover. This cover protects the disc from dust particles, which, if they enter, could cause permanent damage.
Do not contact many laboratories. Each laboratory, especially if it is not specialized, can worsen the disk’s condition. If your data is important, you should not experiment. Entrust your case to a data recovery company with extensive experience, and ask friends and acquaintances about their experience with the company in question.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

23. How long will it take to recover my data?

At a recovery company we can give estimates but it isn’t easy to commit to time.

It all depends on whether the disk will read at normal speed after we temporarily fix its problems.

We have cases where we finish in 3 days and cases where it takes more than 30 days to complete the process. In some cases, we need to order spare parts 2 and 3 times until we get all the data from a disk that has serious problems and eventually destroys the spare parts placed on it. There, it can take us months because, in addition to ordering spare parts, we also have very low speeds.

You need to know that all data recovery companies want to finish as quickly as possible to move on to the next case. Their jobs are limited and very expensive, and having an engineer struggling with a case for days is not in their best interest.

> Return to the list of frequently asked questions

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

SOS

Emergency Services

SOS

Cybersecurity Services

SOS

Data Recovery

SOS

Specialized Cybersecurity Services

Not Sure?

Cybersecurity Audits & Assessments

SOS

By Industry

Pharma Cyber Angel

Cybersecurity

SOS

Data Recovery

SOS

Online Scams

SOS

Cyber Security Audits

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

Acronis

Microsoft 365

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

NIS2 Directive

Acronis Day 2025

Tools - Calculators

NIS2 Calculator

Courses

Cyber Security Awareness Training

eBooks - PDFs

NIS2

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

We’re Hiring!

Cyber Security Awareness Training

Frequently Asked Questions about Cyber Security:

Answers about Cyber Security