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19-11-2020, 01:43 PM
1

Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

A researcher bought 100 used USB sticks/drives, on eBay, and set about seeing what files could be retrieved using the sort of software available to baddies.

All of the drives were thought, by the sellers, to have been cleaned.

The researchers found that only 32 had been wiped properly.

The others all had data still on them, including Bank Statements, Legal Contracts, tax returns, etc.

Especially still there were user names & passwords making possible access to bank accounts., etc.

https://www.abertay.ac.uk/news/2020/...ed-usb-drives/

Moral of this story, use a hammer - or buy a proper eraser.

Windows "Delete" does not completely erase.

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19-11-2020, 02:48 PM
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Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Scary stuff - thanks for the heads up. Must admit - I never part with USBs.
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19-11-2020, 04:59 PM
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Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Tbh I wouldn't consider buying or selling used USB sticks.
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19-11-2020, 05:15 PM
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Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
Tbh I wouldn't consider buying or selling used USB sticks.
No me neither Dingy.

....


I bought a reduced returned Tablet from John Lewis goodness knows how many years ago, maybe 5yrs (without checking).
When I went through it it hadn't been wiped. Still contained lots about previous owner.
Whilst there was no super duper personal info ie bank a/c's it had the couple's name and address, phone numbers, work details (she's a vet), friends, correspondence, emails..... etc etc - even photos.

I went back to JL and advised them, not to complain, but to draw it to their attention to check things before they resell them.
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20-11-2020, 07:20 PM
5

Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

The ebay seller(s) who sold the USB sticks could get into serious trouble with the ICO for breaches of the GDPR (https://ico.org.uk/). Traders who sell any type of storage media that is capable of storing private information have a legal responsibility to make sure the storage media/devices are completely wiped clean of any data. The trader cannot just use the 'delete' function on a computer, they have to use industry standard software or hardware to wipe the media/devices clean.

At work we sell all sorts of storage media and devices therefore to comply with the law we use two pieces of software, Blancco and WipeDrive and in hardware, a very powerful degaussing machine.

The ebay seller would naturally claim all innocence and say that it's the responsibility of the person/company they bought the USB sticks from to erase the USB sticks. Yes that is true BUT the ebay seller is still at fault meaning the ebay seller would have to take out a private prosecution of the person/company they bought the USB sticks from.
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21-11-2020, 02:19 PM
6

Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Just had a look, on eBay, and there are 83 Used USB sticks on there, today.

Plus some others tagged as "refurbished" or "for Parts".

Maybe they've all been scrubbed.
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21-11-2020, 02:24 PM
7

Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Then again, would you believe that there are 70,000 Used PCs on eBay, today!

That's just the used /refurbished ones!

All those hard drives!

All that information.

Maybe they are all scrubbed, as well!
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21-11-2020, 05:58 PM
8

Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
Tbh I wouldn't consider buying or selling used USB sticks.
They are so cheap anyway, so why buy used ones with the possibility that they contain viruses or even porn
If anyone knows where someone might be able to get the latter please pm me, I am asking for a friend
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21-11-2020, 08:25 PM
9

Re: Selling your Old USB sticks - Beware!

Originally Posted by Vlad ->
They are so cheap anyway, so why buy used ones with the possibility that they contain viruses or even porn
If anyone knows where someone might be able to get the latter please pm me, I am asking for a friend
I imagine one can google it, you can google all sorts of things nowadays.
 

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