Tech

The Most Tragic Losses of Data

Data loss is an unfortunate inevitability throughout history. Human knowledge was often stored in books, art, and more recently computer servers. However, it is impossible to predict extenuating circumstances that may lead to the loss of this knowledge. For example, the Library of Alexandria was lost in a fire, and along with it, over 570 GBs of information. The Mayan Religious Codices were destroyed by Spanish conquistadors, which resulted in an estimated data loss of 23 GBs. There is an immeasurable amount of data that has been lost throughout human history and that can never be recovered. 
In the present day, most of this data loss occurs on computer servers. The United States leads the world in data loss; almost two-thirds of this loss happened in this country. The major causes of this data loss include human error, such as accidental deletion, lack of training, and misclicks. Malware and unexpected events, such as technological malfunctions or natural disasters, can also lead to data loss. Corporations also can lose invaluable data about their business to many of the same factors. The most affected industries are finance, healthcare, and public administration. It is important to protect our data with vehemence, as data is the lifeblood for our advancements as a species.

The World's Largest Data Breaches