Security of storing data
What secrets can reveal your old PC?
Your old PC can reveal very many secrets. Against the prevailing conviction, deleting private data, or even, formatting the hard disk does not guarantee that confidential information will not fall into the wrong hands.
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The monutains of secrets
Ecologists say that from all wastees, the mountain of old PCs is growing at the fastest pace.
For example, confidential information from previous owners are easy to find on the old PCs.
On the computer coming from the ATM, financial transactions were recorded from the whole year. On another one there were 5,000 credit card numbers. There were also those that contained data on health, love letters, presentations in PowerPoint, as well as a lot of emails and pornographic material.
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Think, before you will throw
In the past, hard disks had a capacity of about 30 megabytes and were quite often stuck. Today their capacity can be tens of gigabytes and they work much more efficiently. Hard disk life has increased to 500,000 hours, or 58 years. As a result, the disk still works smoothly when the personal computer is already obsolete. Data recovery specialists say that it's only now that you can see how important it is to delete information from PCs that are no longer needed. This is especially true for large corporations that can exchange hundreds of thousands of computers at one time. These companies either throw out PCs or give computer equipment to charitable organizations. The costs of removing confidential information are, however, very high. Some companies come to the conclusion that it is more profitable simply to destroy computers.
This is profitable for enterprises, but has a negative impact on the environment in the long run. Some ecologists say that about 80% of old US computers are sent abroad. Much goes to the poor regions of Asia, where unskilled laborers use primitive and dangerous methods in the recycling process. By extracting minimal amounts of precious metals from the motherboards and components, they inhale toxic fumes. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium poison not only people but also the natural environment.
Searchers of missing data.
Computer experts can find data on the hard drives which, in theory,, have been removed from them. This information can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. The police pursuing computer crimes are increasingly resorting to the help of professionals. And there are more and more such crimes: hacking into computers, computer fraud or downloading child pornography from the Internet. In some countries, crime also includes the use of computers for anti-government activities.Data recovery experts very often use software that allows you to create hard disk contents. Such a record is resistant to interference and can therefore be used as evidence
Hammer method.
You are not a criminal, but an ordinary user who wants to get rid of old PC. You want to give your PC to charity in the area ? A great idea, but there is no guarantee that your private data: old e-mails, credit card numbers or details of your bank account will be safe. You should find specialized software on the Internet. Some programs can be obtained for free, others can cost thousands of dollars. They use various methods. One of them is writing zeros around the disk. If you don’t want pay for the service, you can ask one of the companies specializing in "cleaning the disks". Well, there is always a "hammer method" - method that guarantees the complete deletion of data - total physical destruction. Although the contents of the disk can also be erased by using a very strong magnet, the "hammer" option seems to be visually more convincing.
biuro@odzyskac-dane.com.pl