In a 8 News consumer segment, anchor Carrie O'Brien warns viewers that selling or giving away used computers and smartphones can unintentionally expose personal data. McAfee security expert Robert Siciliano bought 30 second‑hand devices from Craigslist and discovered that more than half still contained sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, bank and credit‑card numbers, Social Security numbers, photos, and even porn. Associate professor Doug Shaden explains that the usual “delete” or factory‑reset actions often only remove file references, leaving data recoverable. He recommends using disk‑scrubbing tools (e.g., CyberSide, Wipedrive) or following detailed online guides to overwrite every sector. The segment notes that iPhones and BlackBerrys generally erase data well, while Android devices frequently retain large amounts of information even after a reset. Siciliano concludes that the modest cash earned from reselling a device is not worth the identity‑theft risk and suggests physically destroying the hardware. He also cautions buyers that some used devices may be infected with malware, posing additional security threats.
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You're watching 8 News at 11 on WRIC.
Welcome back. A warning tonight: you could be giving away your most personal information without even knowing it.
It's stored on the computers and cell phones we often sell before getting a new model.
8 News anchor Carrie O'Brien investigated, and what she found is concerning. You may remember VMI recently announced it was trying to track down more than a dozen computers the school sold because school officials realized afterwards that The computers weren't completely wiped clean of private data. Turns out this happens more than you think.
Even when you're confident you've hit delete, some devices are still loaded with your personal information. These days we can do just about anything with a tap from our fingertip or a click of the mouse.
I do online shopping on computer.
Last night I was having dinner with a friend and we were talking about getting tickets to a concert, so I like pulled out the phone and quickly booked some tickets.
Our phones are now basically small computers.
I'm on the web all the time. I'm using for banking, Facebook, of course, like 24/7 it's on.
So it could be devastating if all that information fell into the wrong hands. Tonight we're learning how easy it can happen. With new technology out almost daily, many of us are looking to upgrade. And when we do, sometimes we give away or sell our old devices. You see them for sale all over eBay and Craigslist. But beware, you could be spilling your secrets even when you think you've cleared out all your personal data.
I did everything I could to clear off what I could myself before I sent it.
Maybe sometimes I left, you know, some messages in or a few pictures, but nothing too important.
That's what they think, but they are our digital footprint. McAfee online security expert Robert Siciliano did a little experiment. He purchased 30 different devices from Craigslist— laptops, notebooks, iPads, and smartphones.
I asked every single person if they reinstalled the operating system or reformatted the drive, and they all said yes.
But guess what?
On more than more than half of the devices I found enough information to steal identities or in some cases even get people into trouble.
Siciliano found usernames, passwords, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card information, photos, even porn.
If I was an identity thief, uh, with all these devices I could have either opened up new financial accounts under people's names using the Social Security numbers or in some cases I could take over existing accounts using their credit card numbers or bank account numbers.
The problem is when you appear to delete a file on a laptop, it may not actually be deleted.
Doug Shaden, associate professor of computer science at the University of Richmond, says clicking delete isn't enough. That only clears the reference to the data. Before you sell your PC, you need to make sure you scrub the files. Tools like CyberSide and Wipedrive can help you overwrite every sector of your hard drive.
I would recommend for most people, because this isn't hard to do, um, I would recommend when it comes to a laptop or a PC that you go online, say to HowToGeek. There's a site, HowToGeek, and— or you can Google how to prepare a PC for resale.
These online sites can walk even the most tech-challenged individual through the process step by step.
It's very easy to follow as long as you keep in mind that you're not looking just to delete the files, you're looking to scrub the disk. Now when it comes to selling your smartphone, you go to Settings, General, and you look down, there's a Reset Machine to Factory Under factory conditions, you just press one button and it'll actually ask you, "Do you want me to wipe this machine and reset it?" Based on Siciliano's experiment, the iPhone did a good job purging deleted data.
The BlackBerry also did a good job of getting rid of personal information. But get this, Android devices, not so much. Even when folks followed instructions perfectly and did a factory reset, Siciliano still found a tremendous amount of data there.
Siciliano believes the $50 you might get from selling it isn't worth the risk of giving away your identity. Instead of selling, he says smash it.
I would actually put some safety glasses on, get a sledgehammer, and beat that thing to death.
Also, a beware for the buyer out there. Some of the devices Siciliano purchased were infected with viruses. If he had used them, his personal information could have been compromised. So again, the money you may save may not be worth the risk. Carrie O'Brien, 8 News.
