INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security
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Used drives on eBay still contain
sensitive personal data
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X
perien has warned that 42% of
hard drives purchased on eBay still
contain sensitive data and 15% hold
personal information on them, from financial
records to birth certificates, passport
numbers and photos.
This is according to a study from Ontrack
and the Blancco Technology Group. Some
of the findings of the report, which looks
at residual data on used storage drives
purchased on eBay, the world’s largest
online marketplace, included a drive from
a software developer with a high level of
government security clearance, with scanned
images of family passports and birth
certificates, CVs and financial records.
interacted with as part of the process stated
that the proper data sanitisation methods
had been performed so that no data was
left behind.
“This highlights a major concern that while
sellers clearly recognise the importance
of removing data, they are in fact, using
methods which are inadequate,” she said.
“This personally identifiable information
puts individuals at risk of becoming victims
of cybercrime. Selling old electronics online
might sound like a good option, but in
reality, one is at serious risk of exposing
personal data.”
Blancco VP cloud and data erasure Fredrik
Forslund added: “By putting this equipment
into the wrong hands, irreversible damage
will be caused – not just to the seller, but
their employer, friends and family members.
It is also clear that there is confusion around
the right methods of data erasure, as each
seller was under the impression that data
had been permanently removed.
“It’s critical to securely erase any data on
drives before passing them onto another
party, using the appropriate methods to
confirm that it’s well and truly gone.
“Education on best ways to permanently
remove data from devices is a vital
investment to negate the very real risk
of falling victim to identity theft, or other
methods of cybercrime.” n
Other information included university
student papers and associated email
addresses, school data including photos
and documents with pupils’ names and
grades, 5GB of archived internal office email
from a major travel company and 3GB of
data from a cargo and freight company
with documents detailing shipping details,
schedules and truck registrations.
As part of the research, a range of used
hard drives from leading brands including
Samsung, Dell, Seagate, HP and Hitachi were
purchased at random. The only requirement
was that the drives had not been wiped
using Blancco products.
They were analysed in early 2019 by
partner Ontrack, using proprietary data
recovery tools. Once the recovery exercises
were complete, the drives were then
sanitised by Blancco to ensure permanent
removal of the data.
Xperien ITAD manager Bridgette Vermaak
says the most concerning about these
findings is the fact that each seller Blancco
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