Security researchers have discovered 75,000 "highly sensitive" documents on used USB devices that were auctioned off on eBay .
The University of Aberlay purchased 100 used USB drives that had been stripped of their data and discovered that they contained files that could be easily extracted. The files were collected using a program called USB Write Blocker, which is used to obtain bulk data from devices.
The team managed to extract files that included passwords, bank statements, health records and many more.
Professor Karen Renaud from the Cybersecurity department of Abertay said: «This is an extremely concerning incident and the likelihood of misuse of this information has extremely serious consequences.»
When the team first plugged the USB drives into the computer, 98 of them appeared to be empty. But once they plugged them into the USB Writer Blocker, the documents immediately appeared – only 32 of the drives had been properly cleaned.
The data, according to the researchers, could be very useful for a hacker to launch an attack and empty bank accounts or blackmail the device owner by threatening to reveal personal information.
According to the researchers, the sellers wouldn't have known they had left data on the drive: "Many people don't realize it, but the way many computers delete files doesn't actually remove them. What happens is that the file is removed from the index so that it's effectively hidden."
«However, it is still there and even if you know how, you can easily recover it using publicly available tools».
However, there is a method for proper deletion of files from devices.
On the computer, open the command prompt from the “Start” menu and type “format e: /p:3” (if “e” is not the letter for the flash drive, change it accordingly).
On a Mac, open the Disk Utility, select the drive, click “Erase,” then click “Security Options” and scroll to “3-pass secure erase.”
