Dumpster Diving for your Identity

Or, more importantly what they get out of them.

[pendanticist]

This story just aired today.

http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/4760.php

"Cops bust ID thief at hotel here. Newspaper story in room says he bilked 800 victims. (Tucson Daily Star^tm)"

http://www.komu.com/html/htmlTarget8/dumpster.html

Additional reading.

http://www.rightonthemoney.org/shows/507_ident2/

Rightonthemoney.org has some pretty good tips too. Frankly, I was surprised they suggest shredding is no longer the accepted 'Fail-Safe' as was once thought. Apparently, they've 'upgraded' the theft mode to include recruiting bank and lending institution employees who then provide your data back to them, for a fee.

Then I got to thinking...

Is your corporate data 'truely' destroyed 'on-site', like the contractor says?

Are mid-large sized companies taking alternate measures to shredding? If so, what kind? On-site, Off-site? In-house, contract out?

Are the costs, in any way, prohibitive? If so, how do you off-set those costs?

Did you throw that ATM receipt that was in your pants pocket all day, unthinkingly into the trash once you got home?

What about those medications in the medicine cabinet? Do you scrape the sticky label (showing your info) off the empties prior to disposal?

Those old tax records that are down in the basement or in storage somewhere. Are you going to take the time to have them processed? Or, are 'ya gonna just dump 'em to the land-fill or give them to a 'contractor'?

Remember now, sheet-paper products like newsprint and printer paper do NOT bio-degrade as quickly as was once believed. Sure, most ink is water-based. But, dare you count on that? Nah. Laser-jet printers have been around awhile now.

What I'd like to know is this:

What are you doing today to protect yourselves and/or your corporate data during the disposal process?

[Mardi_Gras]

>What are you doing today to protect yourselves and/or your corporate data

I got a new shredder that shreds CDs - so now I can get rid of all those old backups with financial data on them.

This is not a problem to be taken lightly - I hope your post prompts some people to consider their vulnerabilities.

[pendanticist]

Excellent Mardi_Gras :)

And I heartily agree.

There was also a thread that discussed to what extent one could/should go to ensure the data on old hard drives is non-retrievable at the time of disposal. Can't find it though.

[Mike12345]

There was also a thread that discussed to what extent one could/should go to ensure the data on old hard drives is non-retrievable at the time of disposal.

I think i remember that thread, there was suggestion of pinking sheers and fire etc etc. I like to think ive always been careful but since that time ive been taking it a little more seriously. I read something about drive slagging recently, and i have to say im taking it as a serious suggestion.

I think people are all to confident that "when its gone, its gone" but as we know, in most cases it isnt. Im always prepared to take that extra step if it means that peoples data is safegaurded.

[karmov]

I know of a place where they use a cheap but reasonably effective way of wiping their drives at the end of their life. Punch a hole in the top and flood it with Pepsi. I laughed when I first heard it but quickly realised that it is a reasonably quick and easy way to trash a drive when it dies and you don't want anyone to get to the data.

[sem4u]

You should degauss or destroy old hard drives and other media. Also, shred old documents and discs.

[pendanticist]

>I hope your post prompts some people to consider their vulnerabilities.

Apparently I chose the wrong thread title. <shrug> Either that, or they're being awful secretive about it. <Yawn> eh, this threads dead....