Computer Identity Theft Prevention

Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime, one that law enforcers are struggling to keep up with. Did you know that one in every ten persons is a victim of having their identity stolen on a daily basis in the United States? Chilling isn't it?

In just about every home and business sits a device that helps us do our daily routine; you know what I am talking about. It's a computer. Computers are great for helping us manage and organize our lives in both home and business. However, there is a darker side to these devices. They remember everything that is put into them. I used to think that people held grudges for a long time, but a computers can top us all off without the use of emotion or care with it's merciless memory.

Did you know that when you delete something in your computer, empty the trash, the data is not really "deleted" per say. Behind the scenes the data is marked as ready to be written over. Kind of like, when you throw away your physical trash. It is put into a trash can, taken to the dump never to be seen again, right? Wrong! A computer marks the files to be written over when the next set of data arrives on that area of the hard drive. With hard drives being as large as they are these days, and growing never the less, it could be years before that piece of data is really erased.

So how do you erase a file permanently? You need a program to tell it to erase and rewrite over the file at the minimum of seven times. The Department of Defense considers this a standard.

The next thing to consider is, when you are disposing of your computer, what are you doing with the data that is left on the hard drive? I find it hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would hand out freely their Social Security number or personal identification to just anybody. So why would you give over a computer that has been tracking your information for the last five years to whomever?

Examples of what a computer records:

Wow! I could have just said everything to keep it simple. So, who do you trust with your data and personal information? Simple answer is: Nobody, but you. Next time you drop your computer off to a repair shop, you should ask about their privacy policy. There are countless stories on particular retail chains snooping and making copies of peoples files. This is illegal by the way to take a person's data that doesn't belong to you. What do you do with a computer that is going to be out of your sight?

If you're selling your system:

DOD Erase (7 passes) and reformat the operating system to factory default. I don't care if your giving this system to your mother. Be safe, than sorry!

If you're trashing your system:

Take the hard drive out, get a drill that is at least 3/8" and drill into the hard drive's platter as many times as you can until it is beyond recoverable. (Warning, may bring some strange satisfaction.) Be cautious in doing this. A bench vice would be useful in holding the drive. Don't forget your safety glasses.

You just want to clean up:

There are many programs out there that erase the hidden logs and files as discussed earlier. Research them, check out their reviews, feedback, etc. If you are not for sure how to proceed with the research, at the bottom of this article is a link that can show one of the programs out there that is available and highly recommended.

Now you can see how user intervention is the best prevention on identity theft. One can never be too safe.