Panda Data Control lets you delete indexed files shown in computer inventories. File deletion is an asynchronous operation launched by the network administrator from their console and which takes place when the agent receives a request from the Panda Endpoint Protection server and the following conditions are met:
- The file is not in use.
- The content of the file has not changed with respect to the file stored in the inventory.
- The file has not been deleted by the computer user in the time between when the inventory was
generated and when the administrator launched the deletion action. - The computer is online. If this condition is not met, Panda Data Control will mark the file as Pending deletion until the computer connects to the Panda Adaptive Defense 360 server.
Deletion action statuses
As file deletion is an asynchronous operation, it can have the following statuses:
- Deleted: the file has been moved to the backup area.
- Pending deletion: Panda Data Control is waiting for the computer to connect to the Panda Endpoint Protection server in order to delete it.
- Error: it was not possible to delete the file due to an error.
Backing up the files deleted by Panda Data Control
Files deleted by Panda Data Control are not permanently erased from the computers' hard disks. Instead, they are moved to a backup area where they are kept for 30 days, after which they are permanently deleted.
This area is automatically excluded from inventories, searches and the file monitoring feature, and cannot be accessed by the software installed on users' computers.
Deleting files
Follow the steps below to delete one or more files:
- From the My lists side panel:
- Go to top menu Status and click Add from the My lists side panel. A window will appear with all available lists.
- Click the Files with personal data list. A list will be displayed with all PII files found across the network.
- From the Files with personal data widget:
- Go to top menu Status and click the Data Control dashboard on the left side. Next, click one of the items in the Files with personal data widget. The list Files with personal data will be displayed filtered by the selected criteria.
- From the Files by personal data type widget:
- Go to top menu Status and click the Data Control dashboard on the left side. Next, click one of the items in the Files by personal data type widget. The list Files with personal data will be displayed filtered by the selected criteria.
- Follow the steps below to delete multiple files:
- Select the checkboxes next to the files to delete.
- Click the
icon at the top of the window. A confirmation dialog box will be displayed.
- Follow the steps below to delete a single file:
- From the context menu of the file to delete, click the Delete option. A confirmation dialog box will be displayed.
- If you confirm the action, the file will appear in red and with the
icon indicating that the file is pending deletion.
- From the Files with personal data widget:
Viewing deleted files
Follow the steps below to view the files deleted by the administrator:
- Go to top menu Status and click Add from the My lists side panel. A window will appear with all available lists.
- Click the Files deleted by the administrator list. A list will be displayed with all PII files found on the network that have been deleted or restored by the administrator.
Panda Data Control lets you restore, to their original location, all files previously deleted by the administrator through the console, provided they still remain in the backup area (up to 30 days after they were deleted). File restore is an asynchronous operation launched by the network administrator from their console and which takes place when the agent receives a request from the Panda Endpoint Protection server and the following conditions are met:
- The file remains in the backup area: deleted files are kept in the backup area for up to 30 days after being deleted. After that period, they are deleted permanently with no option for recovery.
- There is no other file with the same name in the restore path: if there is another file with the same name in the restore path, Panda Data Control will restore the file to the Lost&Found folder.
- The restore path exists: if the restore path doesn't exist, Panda Data Control will restore the file to the Lost&Found folder.
- The computer is online: if the computer is offline, Panda Data Control will mark the file as Pending restore until the computer connects to the Panda Endpoint Protection server.
As file restore is an asynchronous operation, it can have the following statuses:
- Restored
- Pending restore
- Error
Restoring deleted files
Follow the steps below to restore the files deleted by the administrator:
- Accessing the restore feature:
- Go to top menu Status and click Add from the My lists side panel. A window will appear with all available lists.
- Click the Files deleted by the administrator list. A list will be displayed with all PII files found on the network that were previously deleted or restored by the administrator.
or - Go to top menu Status and click the Data Control dashboard on the left side. Next, click the Files deleted by the administrator widget. The list Files deleted by the administrator will be displayed with no preconfigured filters.
- Follow the steps below to restore multiple files:
- Select the checkboxes next to the files to recover.
- Click the
icon at the top of the window. A confirmation dialog box will be displayed. - If you confirm the restore action, the file's status will change to Restoring.
- Follow the steps below to restore a single file:
- Click the context menu of the file to recover.
- Click the Restore option. A confirmation dialog box will be displayed.
- If you confirm the restore action, the file's status will change to Restoring.
