Don’t Let Your Trash Become a Hackers Treasure

We are all familiar with deleting emails, files and documents to free up space on our computers. But where does it go? What really happens to it? Is it really gone forever? And most importantly, can cyber criminals get access to it?

Many of us have at one time or another accidentally deleted items we did not mean to. In this case, the ability to bring those files back from the dead is usually good news. Most of the time, deleted files are not permanently gone.

Don’t Let Your Trash Become Treasure

Cybercriminals can utilize the same techniques and tools as government agencies and law enforcement to access your deleted files, so its important to ensure any data you want to permanently delete is done so correctly.

Formatting a hard drive and wiping it clean are not the same things. Formatted hard drives will still contain retrievable data so if you wish to permanently delete files, you will need to overwrite the data with special software. There are free versions of eraser software for both Macs and PCs but always ensure you back up anything you do not wish to lose because once the hard drive has been wiped clean it will be impossible or very expensive to retrieve any lost data.

What really happens when you delete a file?

When you drag a folder into the trash bin on your desktop, all you’re doing is deleting the file system; the road the operating system takes to retrieve the data. The file still exists on the hard drive and can be easily be retrieved with recovery software. So, just because you can’t see a file in the directory after it’s been deleted doesn’t mean that it’s not there.

This is good news when you want to recover deleted files you need, however, its bad news when you consider the threat cyber criminals pose. Cybercriminals and hackers can gain access to personal information stored in your computer even after you think you’ve deleted it and that includes everything from financial documents, password directories and scanned images. If you think those files are gone because they’ve been deleted, think again. It’s a treasure trove for hackers and your computer marks the spot!

When should you wipe it?

You should consider wiping a hard drive if you want to clean out sensitive data, are recycling a computer, selling a computer or donating a computer to another person/firm. By doing so, you will protect and secure your data you don’t want anyone else finding.

Your personal information will always be retrievable on a computer’s hard drive unless you take the necessary steps to wipe the hard drive clean. Otherwise, these files are there for the taking, and anyone with recovery software and bad intentions could access them and invade your privacy.

Don’t let your trash become a hacker’s treasure…