How much danger after selling old smartphones or laptops, what hackers may get data, how to avoid
You are going to sell your old laptop or phone and so you are deleting all your photos and private files. It may also happen that you also use the ‘Factory Reset’ option of your equipment. You might think that by doing this your sensitive data is now safe, but much more is yet to be done as hackers may be able to get passwords, documents or bank details even after ‘Factory Reset’.
In fact, 90 percent of the laptops, hard drives and memory cards still have a re -obtainable data. This indicates that many vendors fail to properly eradicate their digital equipment data before sale or disposal. But, there are some simple steps that you can preserve your personal information while selling or disposal of equipment by adopting.
Data Safety Risk: Settled or sold old digital devices often contain sensitive individual and corporate information. Only deleting files or ‘factory reset’ cannot be enough. Data can often be easily re -achieved using special equipment. This neglect has caused worrying incidents of data leaks.
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For example, 42 percent of the older devices sold on ‘eBay’ contain sensitive data, even if sellers adopt various ways to erase data. Such data includes passport photographs, school records and corporate documents.
A study in the year 2022 found that private data remains intact due to non -eradication of data of internet equipment, which increases their possibility of misuse.
It found that the European e-waste exported to Ghana also included classified corporates and government files, which could also lead to security threats beyond the risk of personal identity data.
A major wireless service provider in the US failed to safely settle the ‘storage device’. As a result, data was stolen and 1.4 crore customers were affected. Similarly, in an improperly dealt with the medical hard drive in 2021, confidential records of more than 1,00,000 patients were exposed.
The standard ‘Factory Reset’ is not enough: Many people believe that by doing ‘factory reset’ their data is completely erased, but it does not always happen.
Analysis of mobile analysis sold after use has shown that 35 percent of devices had a re -obtained data even after delete and reset. It attracts attention to the risks of being completely dependent on the ‘Factory Reset’.
Best Methods for Safe Settlement: Individual users should use ‘data-wiping software’ to safely eradicate their hard drive data before selling or disposal of digital equipment.
On Android phones, apps like ‘Shredite’ offer the option to erase data safely. The iPhone already ‘encrypt the data’, which makes the full reset the most effective way to eradicate information.
Businesses handling customer data, financial records or intellectual property should follow data security regulations. They can use certified ‘data-wipe tools’ that comply with the guidelines of American institutions associated with the region. These guidelines are acceptable globally. (The Conversation) Language Edited by: Sudhir Sharma
