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The study said that this data represents a significant level of risk for commercial sabotage, identity theft, and even political compromise, and suggest that better education is essential to reduce the risk of harm.
It is not well known among computer users that simply deleting a file from the hard disk does not actually remove it from the computer but simply deletes its entry in the index for the hard drive. To remove all traces of a file requires the actual data to be wiped using "digital shredding" software. Such software is readily available and should be run on a priority by individuals, companies and organisations intending to pass on their legacy computer hardware to third parties, according to an Inderscience release.
"The research revealed that a significant proportion of the disks that were examined still contained considerable amounts of information, much of which would have been of a sensitive nature to the organization or individual that had previously owned the disk," the researchers explained.
The team added that the percentage of disks that have been effectively wiped had fallen significantly, from 45 percent to 33 percent, since the previous year's survey. "With only 33 percent of working second-hand disks having been effectively wiped, it is reasonable to comment that this is an area where there is significant potential for improvement," they say.They made several recommendations for improved data security and suggest that public awareness campaigns by government, the media, commerce and/or academia ought to be run to help reduce the risk of sensitive data entering the information black-market.
British Telecommunication Head of Information Security Research Andrew Jones working with Glenn Dardick of Longwood University, Virginia and colleagues Craig Valli, of Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, and Iain Sutherland of the University of Glamorgan, UK, have analysed data that remained on a number of second hand hard disks.
The entire 2007 study is being published in International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry. The team is now completing the 2008 analysis and will announce those results shortly as well.
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First things first, you need a new hard drive. It can be external if you want. But you have to be able to mount it as a directory in DSL (Damn Small Linux)
Now you need to borrow someone else computer (cause yours is screwed right?).
Download DSL (damn small linux)Just goggle “Damn Small Linux Download”, you’ll find it. Got it? Good, now boot it.
After booting you will see the GUI of the DSL, run TERMINAL
and follow this command
*Note: this command will make you a super user in DSL
#sudo su
*Note: this command will mount you HDD on DSL
#mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1
*Note: this command will check if your data is still on the HDD
#cd /mnt/hda1
#ls -al Found any data? If not stop here and cry.
If yes move on.
Since you already have you new hard drive connected to your PC just run this command series.
#mount /dev/hdc1 /mnt/hdc1
#cd /mnt/hdc1
#mkdir backup
#cp -R /mnt/hda1/*.* /mnt/hdc1/backup
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After all the restrictions that Steve Jobs has imposed on the owners of Apple iPhone, now it turns out that Apple is probably secretly collecting personal data from any iPhone.
A power user has found bits of code in the iPhone, that may collect and send personal data, such as IMEI, IP address, and companies you are interested in, to an Apple server via the Weather and Stocks applications. The sent information however is encrypted, so it is not that sure whether it holds the IMEI code of your iPhone. Some experienced users have already reverted the code so that it sends zeroes only. Data monitoring could provide valuable information of how many iPhones have been unlocked, how they are distributed around the world and also for studying user preferences and habits, for example.
Just before you put your tin foil hat on, remember that Apple have stated that "… when you interact with Apple, we may collect personal information relevant to the situation, such as your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and contact preferences; your credit card information and information about the Apple products you own, such as their serial numbers and date of purchase; and information relating to a support or service issue." Regardless the legitimate issue of the case, it is definitely immoral for any company to collect personal information in such a secretive manner. Lately, Steve Jobs has been accumulating lots of negativism concerning the iPhone. The latest hot topic was the prosecution of all owners of sites with a domain name including iPhone in it, which led to a spirit of high discontent among the internet society.
The other hot news on behalf of the iPhone, announced by some major news sources, concerns the German unit of Vodafone Group, which has obtained a court order against Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile mobile carrier stating that the German telecommunications giant should start selling unlocked versions of the iPhone in Germany. Deutsche Telekom is selling the iPhone exclusively in Germany along with a mandatory 2-year contract and as such is accused of misuse sales practices. Specifically, Vodafone is questioning the iPhone's exclusive use in T-Mobile's network and the use of the device being limited to certain fees within T- Mobile's subscription offerings. A T-Mobile spokesman has confirmed that the restraining order will be disputed by the respondent.
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