Report From Ontrack and Blancco

Kroll Ontrack, LLC partnered with Blancco Technology Group to conduct a study regarding residual data on used storage media purchased on eBay.

The study analysed 159 devices purchased in the US, UK, Germany, and Finland. A range of used media from brands were purchased at random, including Samsung, Dell, Seagate, HP, and Hitachi. The only requirement of the purchase was that the devices had not been wiped using Blancco products.

With the help of Ontrack’s solutions and proprietary tools to recover data from virtually any type of storage device, sensitive data was discovered to be present on 42% of devices, with 15% containing personally identifiable information (PII).

This included:

• A drive from a software developer with a high level of government security clearance, with scanned images of family passports and birth certificates, CVs and financial records
• University student papers and associated email addresses
• 5GB of archived internal office email from a major travel company
• 3GB of data from a cargo/freight company, along with documents detailing shipping details, schedules, and truck registrations
• University student papers and associated email addresses
• Company information from a music store, including 32,000 photos
• School data, including photos and documents with pupils’ names and grades

For every 20 devices, at least three had PII. Furthermore, each of the sellers that were contacted had stated that the proper data sanitisation methods had been performed so that no data was left behind. This highlights a major concern that while sellers clearly recognise the importance of removing data, they are in fact, using methods which are inadequate.

”Ensuring that correct data erasure procedures have been followed is vital to ensure that your personal information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands,” comments Philip Bridge, president, data and storage technologies, Ontrack. “Data recovery is our speciality; we work with both companies and individuals to get data back from a variety of situations, including hardware and software failures, accidental deletion/formatting, ransomware, and natural disasters. Unfortunately, with the rise of cybercrime, leaving any trace of personal data on used media that is sold online can cause catastrophic results for the previous owner, especially when data recovery software is so readily available online. It is therefore imperative to follow correct erasure procedures to ensure your personal data is protected.”

“Selling old hardware via an online marketplace might feel like a good option, but in reality, it creates a serious risk of exposing dangerous levels of personal data,” said Fredrik Forslund, VP, cloud and data erasure, Blancco. “By putting this equipment into the wrong hands, irreversible damage can be caused – not just to the seller, but their employer, friends, and family members. It is also clear that there is confusion around the right methods of data erasure, as each seller was under the impression that data had been permanently removed. It’s critical to securely erase any data on drives before passing them onto another party, using the appropriate methods to confirm that it’s well and truly gone. Education on best ways to permanently remove data from devices is a vital investment to negate the very real risk of falling victim to identity theft, or other methods of cybercrime.“