Computing
What You Must Do
Before You Abandon Your PC By
Jay Dougherty
If you've been using a computer for some time and need to
abandon it - either because you're leaving a job or moving
to another machine - you need to be concerned about
security. Simply put, once you're gone, a lot of information
can be retrieved about you just by inspecting the digital
traces you leave behind.
So before you say goodbye to a PC, follow this list of to-do
items to ensure that no one gains information about you that
they do not need to know.
The applications on your PC keep a record of almost
everything you do. By default, your Web browser probably
leaves tracks from a lot of the sites you've visited, stores
the user names you use online, the files you've downloaded,
and even passwords, if you allow it.
Many business applications also keep track of the documents
you've last worked on or edited. "Histories" are useful to
those who need quick recall of what they last worked on, but
they're anathema to those who require privacy.
There are ways to selectively clear usage history with each
of the applications that keep such records. But because it's
difficult to remember exactly which applications are keeping
a record of how you've used a computer, a better solution is
to turn to a tool that specializes in removing traces of
every document you've worked on or website you've visited.
Clear History, for instance, removes the history of activity
kept by most popular applications. It can clear not only
document and Internet history but also can ferret down into
more arcane data and registry information, removing any
record of your activity.
If the PC you've been using contains sensitive files, it's
not enough simply to delete them. Even if you delete a file
and subsequently remove it from the recycle bin, a savvy
user can reconstruct deleted data and potentially gain
access to files that you thought were gone for good.
So to delete sensitive files, you have to turn to something
more robust than the delete key. Software-based file
shredders fit the bill. Most of these applications work by
scrambling the contents of a file using special algorithms.
Your e-mail probably holds plenty of information you'd
rather not see fall into the hands of someone who comes
along to use a computer after you. So it's critical that you
know how to destroy e-mail you do not want others to see.
First, though, that deleting e-mail from a machine that has
been connected to a corporate network probably does not
actually remove all traces of messages you've revived or
sent. Many companies are required by law to keep copies of
the e-mail their employees generate, so your best course of
action is to plan ahead and never send sensitive information
by e-mail from work.
You can delete e-mail messages individually using the Delete
key on particular messages. Remember, though, that deleting
e-mail messages this way just sends them to the Deleted
E-mail folder, where they will need to be deleted again.
Holding down the Shift key while deleting messages sends
them directly to the recycle bin in Outlook and Outlook
Express.
If you have the option to completely wipe out a hard drive
before leaving a machine or returning it, take advantage of
it. A study by researchers at Britain's Glamorgan University
showed that more than half of the used hard drives purchased
from eBay contained retrievable personal and financial
information.
Reformatting an old hard drive isn't enough, since even a
standard reformat can leave the data on a disk vulnerable to
retrieval by savvy users.
So you need to look into disk shredding tools before passing
on a hard drive that may contain sensitive information. As
with file shredders, you'll find plenty of commercial
utilities that can accomplish this task, but capable free
ones exist as well.
Look to the popular Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net),
for instance. This programme runs from a boot disk or drive
and proceeds to securely erase any hard drive that it finds
on a system.
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