AnitaPeterson
Diamond Member
Thought I might share this story with you... as a reminder that even educated people can be stupid, and that our identity and privacy can be compromised by simple negligence.
There's a store near my workplace, where people buy electronic equipment. A few months ago, they started to collect unwanted/obsolete/broken electronics, for recycling purposes. Nothing wrong with it - it's a noble and worthy initiative, and more stores should do that.
I know the store and its employees fairly well. Often times, during lunch break, I stroll on that street, and sometimes I go in the store, to look at new toys. Almost invariably, I can't resist the temptation to look at what people discard. The employees are pretty open to anyone dropping stuff there, and they encourage those who can pick up stuff and repair it to do so. Again, it's a useful reuse/recycle policy, which everyone could benefit from.
Two days ago, I saw an external HDD in that bin, and it had FireWire connections, besides the usual USB. As it happens, I needed a FireWire enclosure, so I took the whole thing, thinking that, most likely, the HDD inside is busted, but I can rescue the enclosure.
It turns out there was nothing wrong with that external HDD. It was just old. Moreover, whoever owned it before, never bothered to wipe it clean - delete, reformat and so on. Lo and behold, I found a collection of music, a bunch of porn, and lots of pictures of the owner and his girlfriend, on a trip to Asia. And yes, there were also pictures of a more private nature, involving both of them.
I found PDF files with the guy's taxes, his address, his social insurance number, his girlfriend's address, email addresses, telephone numbers, family information, family pictures, and the list can go on....
Last, but not least - get this! - the guy's a computer science major, with excellent grades!
I am amazed at this sheer stupidity. There's so much harm one could do with all this data, yet it was just left out, for anyone to pick up.
I know some AT members preach total hardware destruction (shooting old HDDs with guns, microwaving them, smashing them with a sledgehammer and so on). Honestly, I cringe when I hear that. As long as the equipment's old, but still works, wanton destruction is senseless and wasteful. But from here to not even bothering to format discardable storage devices a few times, it's a long, long way.
After indulging in a few fantastic scenarios involving high-limit credit cards, blackmail, extortion and public humiliation, I sighed and formatted the HDD. But I just wondered, before doing that, if I shouldn't have e-mailed the guy, something along the lines of "Your name is XXXXX. Your birthdate is XXXX. Your social insurance number is XXXX. You live at XXXX. Your parents are XXXXX and XXXX. Your total declared income for last year was XXXXX. Your girfriend's name is XXXX. She lives at XXXX. She has a pet dog named XXXX. Her telehone number is XXXX. You are a graduate of XXXX. You are a computer science major, but have no clue about data security. Oh, and you have a small d!ck"
There's a store near my workplace, where people buy electronic equipment. A few months ago, they started to collect unwanted/obsolete/broken electronics, for recycling purposes. Nothing wrong with it - it's a noble and worthy initiative, and more stores should do that.
I know the store and its employees fairly well. Often times, during lunch break, I stroll on that street, and sometimes I go in the store, to look at new toys. Almost invariably, I can't resist the temptation to look at what people discard. The employees are pretty open to anyone dropping stuff there, and they encourage those who can pick up stuff and repair it to do so. Again, it's a useful reuse/recycle policy, which everyone could benefit from.
Two days ago, I saw an external HDD in that bin, and it had FireWire connections, besides the usual USB. As it happens, I needed a FireWire enclosure, so I took the whole thing, thinking that, most likely, the HDD inside is busted, but I can rescue the enclosure.
It turns out there was nothing wrong with that external HDD. It was just old. Moreover, whoever owned it before, never bothered to wipe it clean - delete, reformat and so on. Lo and behold, I found a collection of music, a bunch of porn, and lots of pictures of the owner and his girlfriend, on a trip to Asia. And yes, there were also pictures of a more private nature, involving both of them.
I found PDF files with the guy's taxes, his address, his social insurance number, his girlfriend's address, email addresses, telephone numbers, family information, family pictures, and the list can go on....
Last, but not least - get this! - the guy's a computer science major, with excellent grades!
I am amazed at this sheer stupidity. There's so much harm one could do with all this data, yet it was just left out, for anyone to pick up.
I know some AT members preach total hardware destruction (shooting old HDDs with guns, microwaving them, smashing them with a sledgehammer and so on). Honestly, I cringe when I hear that. As long as the equipment's old, but still works, wanton destruction is senseless and wasteful. But from here to not even bothering to format discardable storage devices a few times, it's a long, long way.
After indulging in a few fantastic scenarios involving high-limit credit cards, blackmail, extortion and public humiliation, I sighed and formatted the HDD. But I just wondered, before doing that, if I shouldn't have e-mailed the guy, something along the lines of "Your name is XXXXX. Your birthdate is XXXX. Your social insurance number is XXXX. You live at XXXX. Your parents are XXXXX and XXXX. Your total declared income for last year was XXXXX. Your girfriend's name is XXXX. She lives at XXXX. She has a pet dog named XXXX. Her telehone number is XXXX. You are a graduate of XXXX. You are a computer science major, but have no clue about data security. Oh, and you have a small d!ck"
