Backup Format Template highlighted in appendix (Table 2)

Step 11: Explain next that, although there are backup automation tools available such as Duplicati or Cobian, participants may find it easier to start doing their backups by manually dragging and dropping files to the backup storage media. This ultimately depends on the complexity or amount of data they have to manage – for the average user however, manual backups should be more than sufficient.

Step 12: To follow-up on secure data backups, re-visit briefly the concept of encryption for storage media. Explain to the participants what it means to do, and why encrypting their hard drives or storage media can be useful. VeraCrypt is a relatively popular utility for implementing file or disk encryption, and could be mentioned here as an option for participants to explore. On Linux there is the Duplicity application for performing automatic and encrypted backups.

Part 5 – Deleting Files and Recovering Them
Step 13: Read aloud the following statement:
From a purely technical perspective, there is no such thing as a delete function on your computer.
Ask the group what they think about this – Does this statement make sense? How can it be that there is no such thing as a ‘Delete’ function? Remind the participants that they can drag a file to the Recycle Bin on their computer desktop, and then empty the bin, but all this does is clear the icon, remove the file’s name from a hidden index of everything on your computer, and then tell their operating system that the space can be used for something else.

Step 14: Ask the group – What do you think happens to the data that is ‘deleted’? Until the operating system uses that newly free space, it will remain occupied by the contents of the deleted information, much like a filing cabinet that has had all its labels removed but still contains the original files.

Step 15: Now explain that because of how a computer manages this storage space for data, if they have the right software and act quickly enough, they can restore information deleted by accident; likewise, there are also tools available that can be used to permanently delete files (not just remove them from the file index until the space is occupied). Take this opportunity to present Eraser and/or Bleachbit as tools that can be used to delete files and Recuva as an option to recover deleted files.