Get involved...
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting ECHONEWS to 80360, or email us Click here for details »
Don't learn about ID theft the hard way says Barry
12:00am Saturday 6th September 2008
Comments (6)BARRY Stoll made a shocking discovery when he came by some computer equipment discarded when its owner upgraded her system.
He found the hard drive still contained vast amounts of personal information about the owner.
“The hard drive was still in it and to my horror, it contained all sorts of information about the lady who had got rid of it.”
Computer buff Barry Stoll
He found bank details, the woman’s address and phone number and a lot of information about her family – just the kind of data which is a gift to criminals intent on identity theft.
Just last week, the Echo reported on the alert sparked when a computer containing a huge amount of bank data was taken from Shoebury storage company, MailSource and sold on the internet auction site, Ebay.
The server contained account numbers and other details of millions of customers with some of the UK’s biggest banks.
On a smaller scale, countless people are putting themselves at risk, by getting rid of computers without realising their data can still be retrieved by crooks.
Mr Stoll said: “I play around with computers and wanted this one as a back-up.
“The hard drive was still in it and to my horror, it contained all sorts of information about the lady who had got rid of it.”
Mr Stoll learned the owner had asked her son to transfer her information to a new computer. He did so, but never wiped the old one.
Mr Stoll said: “I told her there were enough details on there to steal her identity.
“She was absolutely mortified, because she thought all the data had been deleted.
“This happens more and more, apparently, but there are all sorts of things you can do to protect yourself.”
Mr Stoll said deleting the information from a hard drive was not enough, because it could still be recovered. Even battering the drive casing with a hammer might not be enough.
He says owners should use an eraser programme to completely wipe the drive. He uses a programme called Eraser, which can be downloaded completely free by clicking the link below.
Essex Police offers similar advice. Spokesman Donna Veasey said: “We suggest anyone planning on disposing of their personal computer to destroy the hard drive.
“If you are unable to destroy it, we would recommend using a programme to wipe the hard drive or remove it completely.
“The computer can still be sold without a hard drive, as drives can be bought separately.”
Your Say YourEcho
cubmar, Rayleigh says...
9:58am Sun 7 Sep 08
.com/) which wipes and kills disks.
It is free, but the full (retail) version is so good it is US Department of Defense 5220.22 M compliant (whatever that is - but sounds good!).
Naturally care should be taken when using tools to erase data, especially if you have two hard drives and are only trying to clear one.
Good luck!
ShipShape, Basildonk says...
10:01am Sun 7 Sep 08
Remove the drive and hit it a few times with a claw hammer, hey presto, virtually impossible to access.
APR, Thundersley says...
12:19pm Sun 7 Sep 08
Easy enough to get rid of data on a computer. Lots of mis-information here.
marshman, says...
9:01pm Sun 7 Sep 08
Download it, burn it to a disk, and be careful. It does exactly what it says on the label - to every drive in the system. Can be a powerful weapon in the hands of a techno terrorist but will wipe a drive efficiently enough.
margrete, Rochford says...
1:17pm Tue 16 Sep 08
APR wrote:None of the information on that hard drive was of the slightest information to Barry, but the point was, it would have been of great interest to anyone with nefarious intentions.
Of course he deleted all the data without reading it :)
Easy enough to get rid of data on a computer. Lots of mis-information here.
You say 'easy enough to get rid of...' but the point was, the previous owner had NOT got rid of it. She had asked her son to do so when she got a new computer, but all he had done was to transfer all the data from one to the other, but NOT to wipe it!
Hitting the hard drive with a hammer may not be enough. Barry himself uses a program which is approved by NATO and what it does is to over-write everything many times over, backwards and forwards, up and down.
Barry was contacted by John Geoghegan who wanted to do a feature as a follow-up to the news item about information loss from the Shoebury firm. We didn't see this report in the 'Echo' because we've just got back from the Rhine Valley, been away since 1st September. Nice picture though - he's just like that.
Warning -– computer buff Barry Stoll found a wealth of information stored on the hard drive of a secondhand computer
In this section
- Nursery's first Ofsted report is outstanding
- Updated: Man electrocuted on railway tracks
- Fraudsters target south Essex cashpoints
- Cyclist flown to hospital in Air Ambulance
- Rubbish fire outside Leigh home
- Family saved by smoke alarm
- UPDATED: Water main misery finally ends
- Sasha’s got gift the of the gab
- Southend's hotels see boost in holiday trade
- Eyesore may finally go in land-for-new-homes deal
Sponsored Links
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
evilc, essex says...
7:26pm Sat 6 Sep 08
So the next question what is the real best advice Smash it up completely? or is there anywhere we can go who is 100% capable of doing what is necessary at a sensible price?OR is there any charity shops that will do it free of charge so they can keep it?