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According to a study by New York computer forensics firm, Kessler International, 40 percent of the hard drives that are purchased in bulk orders on eBay contain personal, private and sensitive information. They’ve found everything from corporate financial data to surfing histories and even the downloads of a man with a foot fetish.
The study, which was conducted over six months, consisted of nearly 100 drives that ranged in size from 40GB to 300GB. “With size of the sample, I guess we were surprised with the percentage of disks that we found data on,” stated Michael Kessler, CEO of Kessler International. “We expected most of the drives to be wiped -- to find one or two disks with data. But 40 drives out of 100 is a lot.”
Of the data that they retrieved, 36 percent was personal data and confidential information (including financial information), 21 percent were photos, 13 percent were corporate documents, 11 percent browsing histories, 11 percent DNS server information, and 4 percent was miscellaneous data.
So, should you be looking to sell your machine on eBay let this be a warning to you! Be sure to format the drive completely, ensuring that you wipe out each little piece of data. Who knows where it might end up?
Comments are closed on this article
cataha
March 09, 2009 at 6:33pm
I bought a 500GB x2 =1tb, 2 external HD's. Used them rarely, then suddenly one of them started making noise so i parted since it was RAID configured and recovered data along with not my data.
At first i looked at it thinking it was some crap.. then i seen a picture file with an ad from a banking UNNAMED info site that made me superstitious in going really inside when i found 7 PC's of data been backup to it(System data, registry data, the whole nine yards).....
There account numbers current balances their addresses about 600GB of data logs, Paychex, emails, db, etc....... about 50GB of it was a DATA ("in a plane view that could be opened with a notepad") from people applying for loans with there FULL history of loans ssn, cc............... The basic info that you get from them credit record history companies....... From "UNNAMED BANK" so in thinking it ever get to me when i'm less expecting it,
I called to "UNNAMED BANK" and after 2 hours of telling me that they have a policy in place and other crap of excuses they used..... They finally asked me to send them back and replace me with new 2 HD ... plus some money....
But if i ever again have that happen to me, i will sell it On craigslist or other place..... cause it took me 2+ hours to prove that i actually have it.... Photos, emails, Phone calls,......... another month of going trough lawyers get accusation of me removed, just because i bought it from ebay moreover having a prove from paypal etc.... and not hacking it....! downloading it for 100+ hours of 600GB+....... That's a night mare.!
Good luck to thoes who will ever go trought it.!
winmaster
February 15, 2009 at 7:10pm
I think its pretty good. Think about it. 40% is less than half. Did you really think there were that many people out there who understand that simply deleting a file doesn't destroy it? Also, why would you buy a hard drive on eBay. How can you trust a drive that might have been shaken like a Wii Remote. I sure wouldn't.
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The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Ace of Spades
February 13, 2009 at 5:44pm
What if you just bought one of those hard drives from eBay and when you put it in your computer, you find all this crazy exoctic porn on it? LOL! Just imagine to find that stuff in "My Pictures" and in "My Videos" folders! Even crazier if it came from a person that you knew like your: friend, girlfriend and her friend (oh yea), neighbor, relative, or teacher. Perfect for finding there credit card numbers and just max it out on eBay on other good stuff.
Looksback
February 11, 2009 at 8:08pm
Hopefully, everyone who is tech savy enough to read Maximum PC knows that a full format will not remove the data on a hard drive. It must be wiped with a utility which writes over the entire drive.
The Relic
February 11, 2009 at 8:43pm
You're right, I meant wipe (which is what I think of when I mention full format).
The Relic
February 11, 2009 at 5:45pm
I have never bought a hard drive from EBay, but have bought computers from the local thrift stores, and it amazes me how many people don't even remove sensitive data from the HD...I found one where the person had apparently been working at a church (lots of files involving office work for the church), but had not only left their personal info (tax scans with their name, addy and social security number!), but apparently didn't clear their cache, which showed they were visiting hardcore porn and fetish sites as well! Of course I did a full format to make it all unrecoverable, as I do all HDs that come to me in such a manner.
I've received business computers from used shops where customer data was not deleted as well, and in most cases, the accounts didn't even have a password. Really have to wonder what these people are thinking when they don't format before donating.
bloodyserb
February 11, 2009 at 3:42pm
If you are attractive and making amateur porn you should always leave your pictures in the My Pictures folder under My Documents. It's the safest most secure place on the whole hard drive, no one can get into it but you.
Thanks,
Your local computer repair guy.
