Tag Archives: data destruction

Smartphone users at risk of ID Fraud, particularly when recycling Mobile Phones

Smartphone users at risk of ID Fraud, particularly when recycling Mobile Phones

Credit reference agency Equifax has recently released its research into the implications of Smartphone Theft on Identity Fraud.

 

The findings of the reasearch are very interesting as they show how cavalier Smartphone owners are with their information and Identity.

 

The highlights of the research are below:

* 94% of consumers fear identity fraud and theft yet many keep too much personal data on mobile devices, which when sent for recycling may still have data on them.
* 54% of second-hand phones contain personal data including texts, emails and even banking details, identity fraud expert Equifax is urging consumers to think about what personal data they store on their mobile phone and ensure they delete all data from both the phone and SIM card before recycling or selling it.
* 40% of smartphone users also don’t use the passcode function, leaving them vulnerable to ID fraud. And this jumps when looking at the younger generation that have most embraced the new technologies
* 62% of 22-25 year olds use their smartphone to regularly check their online banking. Yet despite fears about identity theft, 69% do not use a passcode function on their phone
* 35% admit to regularly clearing their browsing history after they use online banking. It’s also this generation where there’s probably more chance of them having personal items stolen when out shopping or in bars and clubs, making them the perfect target for fraudsters

 

EQUIFAX’S SMARTPHONE SECURITY TIPS

* Always use the PIN function on your handset
* Don’t store reminders of passwords on your phone
* Think about which accounts you access from your phone – would it be better to wait until you’re at the security of your home
* Wipe browser history, especially if reviewing online banking
* Keep an eye out for malicious software masquerading as apps
* Keep your smartphone safe at all times
* Delete all personal information from the phone and the SIM card before recycling or selling your phone
* Hire a security shredding service to shred old and unwanted smart phones.

Hard drive destruction ‘crucial’ to security

Hard drive destruction ‘crucial’ to security

  
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The only way to stop fraudsters stealing information from old computer hard drives is by destroying them completely, a study has found. Which? Computing magazine recovered 22,000 “deleted” files from eight computers purchased on eBay.

 

Freely available software can be used to recover files that users think they have permanently deleted. While Which? recommends smashing hard drives with a hammer, experts say for most consumers that’s a step too far.

 

Criminals source old computers from internet auction sites or in rubbish tips, to find users’ valuable details, and a number of recent cases have shown the dangers in disposing of second-hand equipment. A number of software solutions exist to more definitively erase files and information.

 

The most straightforward solution, according to Which?, is complete Hard Drive destruction - and it recommends using a hammer - but it should be noted that destroying the hard drive could release toxic materials when smashed. It must be done with caution also because those smithereens contain environmentally harmful materials so they should be recycled - for instance at the vendor from whom a new hard drive is purchased.

 


Is It Worth it?

 

However experts advise that even a treatment with a hammer may not be the end of your data. Expensive and sophisticated techniques could be used to recover deleted data, even from a hard drive platter that has been physically damaged. But for most people, the freely available deleting software or a simple hard drive formatting procedure should make the data sufficiently difficult to retrieve as to not be worth a criminal’s time.

 

“You can get a credit card number on the internet for about ten pounds from credit card thieves,” says Rupert Goodwins, editor of technology news website ZDNet. “So nobody’s going to spend more than ten pounds trying to nick your credit card number off your hard disk.” Mr Goodwins argues that the free software is as effective as the hammer - indeed, he argues it is as effective as the software that can be quite costly - and says that for reasons of safety he himself would not take the hammer approach.

 

“Unless you’re a spook or the kingpin of a criminal consortium, there’s no need to go out and buy deleting software and no need to put a hammer through the damned thing,” Mr Goodwins told the BBC. “If you’re that worried, get rid of it properly: burn it or put it in acid.”