Kaspersky bought and examined smartphones or storage media that were freely available on the second-hand market and prepared a report. Some important data could be found on it. Very often, old devices and storage media leave small companies via employees and thus distribute data or access data.
Whether computers, mobile devices such as smartphones or storage media, half of the users in Germany (49,9 percent) have already resold such devices used. Buyers are not only happy about cheaper devices, but often also about the data supplied with them, such as music, photos, login data or copies of the previous owner's ID documents. These results come from a recent Kaspersky survey.
Media erased incorrectly
Many salespeople underestimate the challenge of completely deleting the existing data before handing over the devices: Although the vast majority (81,6 percent) try to delete the data beforehand, 53,4 percent do not know how to do it precisely and effectively can. It is therefore not surprising that 51,7 percent of those who have bought used storage media such as hard drives or USB sticks have already found data. This was the case for 45,9 percent on used computers and for 39,5 percent on used mobile devices.
Storage media are a treasure trove of data
Most often, critical, i.e. sensitive data, such as access and contact data or business data, can be found on used storage media:
- The respondents found access data such as passwords, at 17,2 percent, about twice as often as on computers (9,3 percent) and mobile devices (8,7 percent).
- Contact data such as e-mail addresses were on used storage media significantly more often (16,1 percent) than on used computers (12,8 percent) and mobile devices (12,3 percent).
- In addition, 9,32 percent of those surveyed discovered explicit content on used storage media (only 8,3 percent on computers and 6,0 percent on mobile devices).
- Business data was most common on used computers (7,9 percent), followed by storage media (6,9 percent) and mobile devices (5,7 percent).
- Copies of ID cards and other official documents are most common among new owners of used devices on computers (7,9 percent), followed by mobile devices (6,9 percent) and storage media (5,7 percent).
More about the report at Kaspersky.com
About Kaspersky Kaspersky is an international cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky's in-depth threat intelligence and security expertise serve as the basis for innovative security solutions and services to protect companies, critical infrastructures, governments and private users worldwide. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection as well as a range of specialized security solutions and services to defend against complex and evolving cyber threats. Kaspersky technologies protect over 400 million users and 250.000 corporate customers. More information about Kaspersky can be found at www.kaspersky.com/