Why buying a used mobile could get you more than you bargained for

Mobile data spy

If you buy a mobile device or a hard drive second hand are you buying the previous user’s data along with it?

A new study from data erasure company Blancco Technology Group and recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack suggests that in a high percentage of cases the answer is yes.

Based on an examination of 122 pieces of second-hand equipment, the study revealed that 48 percent of the hard disk drives and solid state drives looked at contained residual data. In addition over 2,000 leftover emails and more than 10,000 call logs, texts/SMS/IMs, photos and videos were retrieved from 35 percent of the mobile devices tested.

When the devices were examined in more detail researchers discovered that a deletion attempt had been made on 57 percent of the mobile devices and 75 percent of the drives that contained residual data. More worrying was the discovery that those deletion attempts had been unsuccessful due to common, but unreliable, methods being used, leaving sensitive information exposed and potentially accessible to cyber criminals. Residual data left on two of the second-hand mobile devices was significant enough to discern the original users' identities.

"Whether you're an individual, a business or a government/state agency, failing to wipe information properly can have serious consequences. One of the more glaring discoveries from our study is that most people attempt in some way or another to delete their data from electronic equipment," says Paul Henry, IT Security Consultant for Blancco Technology Group. "But while those deletion methods are common and seem reliable, they aren't always effective at removing data permanently and they don’t comply with regulatory standards. There’s no better example of this danger than the findings of a recent state audit, which found that 12 US state agencies responsible for handling taxes, programs for people with mental illness and driver's licenses used inadequate methods to attempt to wipe information. The big lesson for both businesses and consumers is to understand which deletion methods are effective and comply with regulatory standards and, most importantly, to be cautious of blindly trusting that simply ‘deleting’ data will truly get rid of it for good".

More information is available in the full Privacy for Sale report which is can be downloaded from the Blancco Technology site.

Image Credit: LovePHY / Shutterstock

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