WARNING!  Used Personal Computers, Servers, Hard Drives, Backup Tapes, etc. May Contain Personally Identifiable Information!

 Identity Thieves Want Your Data!

A just-released study indicates that Identity Thieves are likely buying used hard drives on eBay, looking for personally identifiable information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc!

 Harvard Study Reveals Shocking Results

The study was conducted by Dr. Simson Garfinkel of Harvard's Center for Research on Computation and Society.  It is based on the analysis of 236 hard drives, purchased on eBay since 2001.  Here is what the study revealed.

• Over 1000 hard drives are sold on eBay each day.
• Only 44 (19 %) of the drives were wiped clean prior to sale.
• Seven contained over 300 recoverable credit card numbers.
• One drive, from a medical center contained 11,609 unique credit card numbers and patient information!
• An ATM drive contained 827 unique numbers
• A Supermarket drive contained 1,356 numbers and an automobile dealership drive contained 498 numbers.

 Formatting / Erasing Is NOT Enough!

Using operating system utilities like DELETE, ERASE, FORMAT or even FDISK is NOT ENOUGH! Identity thieves can use readily available programs to recover data from drives that people thought they made safe to sell using operating system utilities!  The programs the thieves use are the same that Dr. Garfinkel used to recover data from the drives he purchased on eBay!

 Garage Sales, Flea Markets, Thrift Stores, Dumps All Risky!

Identity thieves attempt to gain personally identifiable information anywhere they can.  Computers sold/disposed of at garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores or even dumped in the trash (illegal in many areas) are at risk!

 Disposal Of Business Computers Poses Extra Risks

Companies disposing of there computers, servers or storage devices, due to replacement or even failure, must take extra extra precautions to completely eliminate customer data and private information.

• Public companies, regulated by Sarbanes-Oxely face Huge Fines For Revealing Confidential Data
• Doctors, Hospitals, Clinics, Dentists, etc. Must comply With HIPAA regulations protecting patient information
• How would your customers react to the news that your company allowed identity thieves access to their data?

How To Protect Yourself

• Never sell or dispose of a computer or storage device without ensuring it has been wiped clean of all data!
• Don't depend on Erase, Delete, Format, FDisk or other similar operating system utilities.  They DON'T protect you!
• Use a program designed to COMPLETELY wipe all data from your storage device(s) using US Department of Defense Data Security Standards.