Don't Throw that Hard Drive Out!

Let's say you are throwing out a computer. You throw it in the trash, and that's all, right? Not necessarily. What if someone trash picks it?

Let's say you instead sell that computer to someone. Did you wipe everything off the hard drive? And when I say "wipe it off", I don't mean "delete" - there are ways to recover information that isn't visible through Windows (or Macintosh, or Linux, for that matter).

How about your work computer? What happens to it when you are done with it? The company probably takes good care to protect any private information on there, right?

The state of Kansas (yes, the state government) sold some computers at a surplus auction that included lots of data that could be used for all sorts of evil purposes - credit card numbers, social security lists, and other materials.

I wonder if our IT department cleans our computers before they do the bi-annual surplus sale at the school? Hmmm...

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