Information management firm, Kroll Ontrack, has provided a top 10 list of data disasters:
10. Rinse cycle A woman placed her external hard drive in a basket of dirty-laundry and carried it downstairs. The family cat strategically placed itself on the laundry, which obscured the view of the drive from the woman's boyfriend, who shooed away the cat and quickly loaded the clothes into the washing machine. On went the machine and away went the data.
9. Don't drink and work! A graphic designer about to finish a beautiful 3D logo for a customer, decided to have a drink to celebrate. When he returned from the kitchen to admire his work, he accidentally knocked over the glass – giving his computer a chance to take a sip. The project was gone, and so was the designer's happiness.
8. Lost in the desert Imagine working in one of the most challenging and remote environments of the world and being confronted with a serious data loss. This is what happened to a resources company in the Gobi Desert. It accidentally deleted a VMware machine and several snapshots.
7. Erase all traces When an Australian pool and spa shop was being robbed, the burglars decided to hide all the evidence by pouring the large stock of hydrochloric acid on the shop floor and counters, consequently damaging the shop's computer and point of sale terminal.
6. Slippery hands An iPad, containing important drilling data, was dropped off the side of a Nigerian oil rig.
Go to HR magazine's Facebook page to see the top five
