Crooks love old computersLouise Burke, The West Australian...

Crooks love old computers
Louise Burke, The West Australian Updated June 9, 2012, 3:11 am



Australians are unwittingly exposing themselves to criminals by throwing out or selling old computers which still have thousands of files of personal information stored on their hard drives.

Credit card details, home addresses, identification documents and personal photographs are all among the common files which people think they have deleted but can still be retrieved.

In the lead-up to next week's national Cyber Security Awareness Week, _The _ _Weekend West _conducted an investigation into this data with the assistance of security experts from Edith Cowan University's secau Security Research Centre.

Every year, thousands of residents sell second-hand computers via classified advertisements and online auction sites, throw them out for the council verge collection or take them to charities or to the dump. While most people would know to delete their personal files from computers, they often do not realise this data remains on the hard drive.

_The Weekend West _contacted Shirley, who was selling two second-hand computers via a classified advertisement in the Quokka - a classifieds publication owned by WA Newspapers - and got permission to have ECU forensically examine them to see what data could be found, before properly erasing it free of charge.

The examination uncovered documents spanning more than 10 years of Shirley's family life, including credit card details on a health insurance application and hundreds of family photographs.

Shirley said she was surprised by what was found. "My daughter tried to delete everything, but it's amazing what you can find," she said. "It just shows you, you can't be sure that everything is gone."
Secau director Craig Valli said there was enough data on Shirley's computers to commit serious fraud if in the wrong hands. "The key message to all of this is that erasing your drive or deleting files is not enough, you have to destroy it with a drill or use a proper eraser tool," Professor Valli said. "People are not aware that they are selling their whole lives for $40."


How To Delete and Wipe Your Data Securely With DBAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCCim2V_Jw