Channel key to protecting sensitive data

Consultancy firm Navigant warns UK firms over the dangers of selling second-hand PCs without having the hard-drive professionally wiped

Consultancy firm Navigant Consulting is warning UK firms to seek the expertise of the channel when trying to sell old PCs, to avoid sensitive data being used by fraudsters.

Navigant recently bought three second-hand computers from online auction sites and second-hand computer shops, and discovered that one of the machines still contained sensitive personal information on the hard drive.

Andrew Durant, head of Navigant Consulting’s fraud investigation team, said: “The seller would have believed all personal information had been deleted when the hard-drive was reformatted and a new operating system was installed, but that simply is not good enough.

“Many individuals, companies and other organisations still do not understand the precautions they need to take when selling their used PCs in order to protect personal information.”

Based on an analysis of the computers, Navigant investigators discovered a range of information on a particular community college including student names, addresses and photos, staff budgets and payroll schemes including names and salary details, bank account details and students’ benefit applications.

Durant added: “The message is simple, if you can’t securely delete your data, don’t sell your computer. It is possible to download software from the internet to securely wipe data from your PC, or better still, take it to a reputable reseller and ask them to do it for you. Even disposing of used hard-drives at the approved local council site isn’t completely safe as hard-drives have resurfaced in such places as Lagos, Nigeria, with the data recovered from them used in frauds.”