Nearly four out of 10 second-hand disc drives contain
information that could embarrass former owners and leave them open
to civil and criminal prosecution, according to research
byBT.
Researchers bought 300 discs in the UK, Australia, North America
and Germany from computer auctions, computer fairs and online.
Analysis revealed just more than 37% contained data such as
salary details, company financial data, bank and credit account
details, hospital records, pornography, visa applications and
online purchasing details.
Similar analysis in 2005 put the figure at 52% and 2006 put the
figure at 34%. 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.
Andy Jones, head of security technology research at BT, who led
the research, said it was hard to understand why companies were not
destroying data properly, given awareness of the problem and
suitable tools.