Posted on 06/28/2016 3:39:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A new study from technology firm Blancco Technology Group found that 78%— more than three quarters—of used, resold, or refurbished hard disk drives still contained personal or confidential information, despite supposedly being “wiped.”
In the first quarter of 2016, the group purchased a total of 200 used hard disk drives and solid state drives sold in the United States from eBay and Craigslist. Out of the 200, the Blancco’s digital forensics team was able to recover left-over data from 78% of the drives, according to the study.
5% of the residual data were spreadsheets, which included sales projections and inventories for various companies. Although this number seems small, the company urges businesses to erase data, saying it is the most important security measure corporations should take. The study references the 2014 data breach at Sony Pictures, when hackers took control of the film company’s computer system. Other than posting internal salary information during the hack, the hacker group also leaked five of Sony’s movies onto the Web.
As for personal information, over half (67%) of the drives contained things like photos (43%), social security numbers (23%), and financial data (21%).
Paul Henry, Blancco’s digital forensics expert, explained in the study that this left over information is all hackers need to steal the information and then perpetrate identity theft and fraud.
“This could have devastating effects for individuals because it could not only rob them of their hard-earned money, but it could also hurt their chances to get approved for financing, mortgage loans and so much more,” Henry said in the study.
So, despite the fact these drives were supposedly wiped, why do so many of them still have information that shouldn’t be in a strangers’ possession? The study points out that there is a big difference between “deleting” data and “erasing” it.
For example, when you delete a file on a computer by dragging it to the trash bin, or even by using the delete key, this doesn’t destroy the data. Instead, formatting a drive erases data. However, the study warns that not all format commands are the same. A quick format, for example, which was used on 40% of the drives, still left some data behind that could easily be accessed by a hacker. A full format, which was used on 14% of the drives, was more thorough, but still missed some crucial information.
I remove all old hard drives, take them apart, and then use a MAP torch to melt the actual platters.
I take 'em all apart for the magnets. We're approaching a day where everything in common use will be solid state and the magnets will be exhausted for the most part.
There will probably always be platters in enterprise devices since the data doesn't degrade over time like it can in an SSD. I've fired up drives that hadn't been powered on in 20 years and they still worked. Good luck finding an MFM/RLL interface these days though. IDE is getting harder as well.
I destroy mine. Typically they are old and outdated enough not to be much of a concern.
I did work for a company and a good bit of it was for Chase bank. I’d get a call telling me that a server drive had failed. The company would courier in a new drive and a degaussing machine. I’d pull the old drive pop in the new one and tell the guy on the phone it was done. Then I would fire up the degausser and put the drive into it. Had to have a witness watch while the machine built up a charge and then “POP” and the drive was toast. I’d drop the old drive off at a FedEx on my way home. Loved those jobs at most 20 minutes of work and it paid 3 hours @ $30/hr.
I have a fine collection of old hard drives and computers in my attic. None of them are reusable - most are tiny capacity by today’s standards. One of these here days I’m going to remove and smash the drives and put the computers out for trash pickup. I’m not getting rid of a usable drive, even if the personal information on it is outdated.
My hard drive crashed on my iMac a few years ago.
I took the computer to the genius store to have the drive replaced. They told me they keep the old drive.
I said that’s my data on there, I might pay someone to recover it.
They wouldn’t replace the drive unless I agreed to give them the old one, so I went to a third party tech store and had it done.
I use the drill press, drop some molten solder on the disc, hit it with a hammer a few times, pour some salt in it, and then bury it in a wet part of the back yard. In a few years, you won’t be able to get anything off it.
Five hard drives in the graveyard with room for more.
I sell mine to lois lerner
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.