Computer crashes remain by far the most common form of data loss with an overwhelming 72 per cent of incidents happening this way, according to new research.

The study involved more than a thousand business, private and government users across the world who had recently sought help with data recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack.

It revealed that the vast majority, 72 per cent, of data loss cases came from a hard disk drive crash, in other words a computer failure, while 15 per cent came from solid state drives and 13 per cent through virtual services.

The figures also revealed shifting sands in the way people use, and lose, data. When asked about the cause of data loss two thirds cited hardware failure, up from just 29 per cent in 2010.

Meanwhile only 14 per cent pointed to human error, down from 27 per cent four years ago, while software failure was to blame in six per cent of cases.

The survey also revealed what is at stake, with 27 per cent respondent saying data loss disrupted their business, including preventing them providing products and services to customers.

A further 15 per cent said it resulted in personal data loss from a business machine and seven per cent said they lost company data from a home-based machine.

“As the data storage evolves, so do the numbers of places we store it,” said Todd Johnson, vice president of data recovery operations, Kroll Ontrack.

“Therefore, it isn’t surprising that critical business data is at stake among both company-owned and personal devices. Since data is key to how we function in both worlds, accessibility is critical.”