The 2006 Analysis of Information Remaining on Disks Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Jones, Andrew; Valli, Craig; Sutherland, Iain; Thomas, Paula

doi:10.15394/jdfsl.2006.1008

Cited by 18 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…The (Jones, 2006) This research should make general computer users and members of the public aware of the implications of careless disposal procedures. In the cases of the organisations disposing of their information, members of the public should enquire about the standards and procedures in place for the disposal, as the system could contain their information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some may query this methodology, as the disks were essentially not computer evidence but discarded equipment, it was thought to be essential practice as it allowed all the research to be performed in a non-intrusive manner, therefore, it did not affect or change any of the original information obtained. It also was used as a precautionary step, as in the research performed in 2006 by BT, material found on two of the disks necessitated them being passed to the police for further information (Jones 2006). In this research, no material was considered necessary to be passed onto the Garda Síochána (Irish Police -law enforcement).…”

Section: The Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Again these disks were purchased at computer auctions, computer fairs or through E-bay in the respective geographic areas (Jones A, Valli C, Sutherland I and Thomas P, 2006). This paper describes the research carried out in Ireland in 2007 that repeated the research performed in previous years in the other countries mentioned.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Who is Reading the Data on Your Old Computer?

Mee¹

2008

JDFSL

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Researchers at Rits Information Security performed a study in how the Irish population disposes of their old computers. How would you dispose of your old computer, or how would the company you work for dispose of their old computers?The majority of Irish homeowners, would bring their old computers to local civic amenity centres, give it away to a relative or sell it on to another party.Some organisations would give their old equipment to a staff member, as a gift gesture, others may simply discard in the local civic amenity site.What is wrong with the methods currently being used for discarding of our old PCs?With this question in mind, Rits Information Security embarked on a study to highlight the problems home users, and corporate users face when discarding retired PCs.In this paper, Rits Information Security describes research in which a number of hard disks were taken from computers after they had been released for resale on Irish online auction sites. The research that was undertaken involved an analysis of the disks to determine if any information remained on these disks, and whether the information could be easily recovered using commonly available tools and techniques.From this analysis, a number of disks could be traced to specific organisations, including large financial institutions, various consultancy firms, numerous small trade organisation, auctioneers, and insurance brokers. In addition to these, a number of computers were found to have originated from the home environment.The results indicate that careless disposal of computers and storage media in the Republic of Ireland is a significant problem. Very few of the disks tested had undergone a thorough or efficient cleansing process. The level of information that could be recovered from the majority of the disks tested would have proven useful for corporate espionage, identity theft, blackmail, and fraud.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Who is Reading the Data on Your Old Computer?

Mee¹

2008

JDFSL

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“…The research methodology used was the same as that used in the earlier research (Jones 2005(Jones , 2006, with each disk being forensically imaged using commercial software and then stored in secure storage areas. The analysis was undertaken on the forensic images of the original disks.…”

Section: The Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 2006 survey, the research of 2005 was repeated and expanded to include a number of additional countries. The report (Jones et al, 2006) on research conducted in the second annual survey revealed that for countries surveyed in both years there had been no significant changes from the prior year in the amount and sensitivity of information that could be recovered from the disk drives obtained from the second hand markets of those countries. Additionally, the results from the disk drives obtained from the second hand markets of countries that had not been included in the 2005 survey were broadly similar to the other countries that were included in both the 2006 and 2005 surveys.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2007 Analysis of Information Remaining on Disks Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Jones¹,

Valli²,

Dardick³

et al. 2008

JDFSL

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All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, increasingly use computers and other devices that contain computer hard disks for the storage and processing of information relating to their business, their employees or their customers. Individual home users also increasingly use computers and other devices containing computer hard disks for the storage and processing of information relating to their private, personal affairs. It continues to be clear that the majority of organisations and individual home users still remain ignorant or misinformed of the volume and type of information that is stored on the hard disks that these devices contain and have not considered, or are unaware of, the potential impact of this information becoming available to their competitors or to people with criminal intent. This is the third study in an ongoing research effort that is being conducted into the volume and type of information that remains on computer hard disks offered for sale on the second hand market. The purpose of the research has been to gain an understanding of the information that remains on the disk and to determine the level of damage that could, potentially be caused, if the information fell into the wrong hands. The study examines disks that have been obtained in a number of countries to determine whether there is any detectable national or regional variance in the way that the disposal of computer disks is addressed and to compare the results for any other detectable regional or temporal trends.The first study was carried out in 2005 and was repeated in 2006 with the scope extended to include additional countries. The studies were carried out by Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law, Vol. 3(1) 6 British Telecommunications, the University of Glamorgan in the UK and Edith Cowan University in Australia. The basis of the research was to acquire a number of second hand computer disks from various sources and then determine whether they still contained information relating to a previous owner or if information had been effectively erased. If they still contained information, the research examined whether it was in a sufficient volume and of enough sensitivity to the original owner to be of value to either a competitor or a criminal. One of the results of the research was that, for a very large proportion of the disks that were examined, there was significant information present and both organisations and individuals were potentially exposed to the possibility of a compromise of sensitive information and identity theft. The report noted that where the disks had originally been owned by organisations, they had, in most cases, failed to meet their statutory, regulatory and legal obligations.In the third and latest study, conducted in 2007, the research methodology of the previous two studies conducted was repeated, but in addition to Longwood University in the USA joining the research effort, the scope was broadened geographically and the focus was extended to determine what changes had ...

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Hard-drive Disposal and Identity Fraud

Thomas

Tryfonas

2007

New Approaches for Security, Privacy and Trust in Complex Environments

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A personal computer is often used to store personal information about the user. This information may be intentionally kept by the user or information maybe automatically stored as the result of the user's activities. In this paper we investigate whether it is possible for identity fraud to occur as a result of post-disposal access to the residual data stored on a personal computer's hard drive. We provide indicative types of information required to commit an identify fraud and examine the personal information contained in a series of secondhand personal computer hard disk drives, purchased as part of a wider research study.

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The 2006 Analysis of Information Remaining on Disks Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Abstract: The ever increasing use and reliance upon computers in both the public and private sector has led to enormous numbers of computers being disposed of at the end of their useful life within an organisation. As

Cited by 18 publications

References 1 publication

Who is Reading the Data on Your Old Computer?

Who is Reading the Data on Your Old Computer?

The 2007 Analysis of Information Remaining on Disks Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Hard-drive Disposal and Identity Fraud

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