Modern office copiers store scanned documents on hard drives, and when machines are sold used, they often aren't wiped. Security researcher John Junttenen demonstrated retrieving confidential files like tax forms and Social Security numbers from a copier's drive, showing how easily identity thieves can access them.
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Office copiers, the newest weapon for identity theft.
How this machine could put you at risk at 11.
It seems perfectly harmless, but this copy machine remembers everything. Every document ever scanned is sitting on a hard drive for anyone to see, download, or print.
So it basically becomes an identity thief's dream.
What's worse is what could happen once they end up here.
Tonight at 11 on WDBZ.
The dangers of identity theft are well known. You've been told to shred your documents, be on the lookout for online scams, and check our credit reports.
But as our chief correspondent Joe Shortsleeve shows us tonight, there's growing concern about a new threat, and anyone could be at risk.
A few years ago, this was a harmless piece of office equipment, but not anymore.
Well, copy machines today are just like computers. They have hard drives, they store data, and they can be used to extract data.
Think about it. Your tax preparer, your mortgage broker, your doctor— chances are they've all made copies of documents containing your personal information. Boston security expert Robert Siciliano says all that vital information could be stored on the machine's internal memory.
Social Security numbers, credit card information, personal identifying information that could be used to commit fraud.
So you're probably thinking, there's no way. My accountant or my mortgage broker is going to try and rip me off, right? But the real problem doesn't surface until one of those professionals trades in this copier for a new one. And the old ones end up here. A wholesale warehouse on the used copier market where hard drives secretly hold documents inside hundreds of machines.
You're looking at 15,000 to 20,000 documents each.
Companies are supposed to wipe those drives clean before they sell the copier, but that often doesn't happen.
This machine here, I can tell it hasn't been cleaned. Because of the IP address on it.
Security expert John Junttenen demonstrated how easy it is to access that information.
There's 2 emails.
Like any potential buyer can do, he connects a laptop that allows him to see, download, or print whatever is on the hard drive. This one is a confidential child support application, and here's an IRA application for a woman named Marilyn Boyd. Marilyn's husband Harold was stunned by what Junttenen found.
They have the address, they have the, uh, Social Security number, they have the date of birth. I mean, it's ridiculous. So it basically becomes an identity thief's dream.
Schunden also found hundreds of names and addresses on another hard drive. Yes, that is Caroline Kennedy, along with her home and work phone number. In a statement, she said she was very surprised to hear about this and was not aware of the problem.
Consumers are pretty much in the dark in regards to these peripheral devices, copy machines, storing our personal information.
I think it's an issue that is going to have major ramifications. It's going to hit like a ton of bricks. It's a ton of bricks when it does hit.
There are privacy laws, particularly when it comes to medical records, but experts say they are tough to enforce. The only way to protect yourself is to make sure anyone who handles your personal information is aware of the problem. Joe Schwartz of WBZ News.
Now, many newer copiers have security systems that help combat the problem, but that doesn't alleviate the issue in thousands of used computers that are on sale right now.
