Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[dude_danny]

Discarded Hard Disk Hold Sensitive Data
September 19, 2007

http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2007/sep/19/discarded-hard-disk-hold-sensitive-data/

New research from BT and the University of Glamorgan, Edith Cowan University in Australia and Longwood University in the USA has revealed that a significant number of hard disks which are bought second-hand contain sensitive company and personal information.

Amongst the information found on the analysed disks were salary details, financial company data, bank and credit account details, hospital/medical data, pornography, visa applications and online purchasing details.

The research found that just over 37 per cent of the hard disks still contained personal data. This shows that there has been no significant improvement from the results that were obtained from the research conducted in 2006 and 2005, which showed that the number of disks still containing information was 34 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.

Nevertheless, it reveals that an alarming level of sensitive information is still being released and organisations are still not modifying their procedures to ensure that information is effectively removed before computer disks are disposed of.

Dr Andy Jones, head of security technology research at BT, who led the research, said: “Given the level of exposure that the subjects of security and identity theft has received in recent times and the availability of suitable tools to ensure the safe disposal of information, it is difficult to understand why disks are still not being effectively cleaned before they are disposed of. When organisations dispose of surplus and obsolete computers and hard disks, they must ensure that adequate procedures are in place to destroy any data and also to check that the procedures that are in place are effective – whether they are handled by internal resources or through a third party contractor.”

Dr Andrew Blyth, who leads the research team at the University, added: “It is essential that companies and individuals take the issue of the disposal of information seriously. A number of disks contained a substantial mixture of corporate and personal data suggesting that many users are working on corporate data at home, which raises some serious concerns. There are likely to be millions of hard drives on public sale, right now, that still contain highly confidential material. ”

For a significant proportion of the disks that were examined, the information had not been effectively removed and as a result, both organisations and individuals were exposed to a range of potential crimes. These organisations had also failed to meet their statutory, regulatory and legal obligations.
Three hundred disks were obtained from the UK, Australia, North America and Germany, purchased at computer auctions, computer fairs or online in the respective geographic areas.