Old Hard Disks And Security

A while back I saw a documentary/news report from Deutsche Welle about old hard disks disposed in Germany. The trail somehow led to Africa where the disks were being recycled for use. Bottom line is that when the reporting team took a look at the used hard disks that they bought, a lot of the hard disks were still readable, and contained personal data from their former owners.

It was not news to me that data could still be mined from old hard disks. My concern was that the former owners didn't know that their data was not safe. Considering that some of the hard disks were from corporations, it was not surprising that there was a lot of financial data on the disks. Whether formatted, erased or not, these data could still be recovered. Some files included credit card and bank information. It is not a stretch to say that if these got into the wrong hands, real money could be stolen from the former hard disk owners.

It is not hard to unerase a hard disk. In fact, you don't need to buy the software, you can download PC recovery software and use the software without any need for training.

The German's have a good nationwide recycling and waste management system. But it seems that PC owners do not know that their data goes out with the hard disks that they discard.

I've not really been a fan of throwing hard disks away. I use the hard disks as long as I can. When the disks finally fail, I disassemble the hard disks and retrieve the disk and the magnets. But I don't know of anyone else who does that.

Normally, users are concerned with the continued use and access of their data. There is no concern that the disks they discard could still be mined for any data.