09-01-2006, 02:51 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Dead (to you) Phones Tell Some Tales
"Selling your old phone once you upgrade to a fancier model can be like handing over your diaries. All sorts of sensitive information pile up inside our cell phones, and deleting it may be more difficult than you think. A popular practice among sellers, resetting the phone, often means sensitive information appears to have been erased. But it can be resurrected using specialized yet inexpensive software found on the Internet....Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a respected computer security expert, said phone owners should decide whether to auction their used equipment for a few hundred dollars � and risk revealing their secrets � or effectively toss their old phones under a large truck to dispose of them. What about a case like the Lothario whose affair Trust Digital discovered? "I'd run over the phone," Zatko said. "Maybe give it an acid bath.""
Straight from the "Scaring you to death about selling your old devices" column comes this piece from MSNBC. The warnings given and the (rather extreme) advice will go far in protecting you. What will go even farther is a sound security policy (i.e. mandatory encryption) and device sanitization process for corporate-provided devices (Whereby the company would take appropriate measures to remove all traces of data before the phone could be sold). Anyone now worried that their former phones may be telling secrets?
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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09-01-2006, 03:47 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 181
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Does re-loading the ROM (or upgrading to a brand new ROM) completely sanitize the device? I have started making sure I do that every time I sell a device but I really don't know if that solves the problem for sure.
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09-01-2006, 03:51 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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I happened to catch part of that report of TV the other day. What got me was that the "expert" they were interviewing said that he never gives away, sells or recycles his mobile phones because "there's no way of knowing what information the recipient could get about me."
If he's such an "expert," why the heck doesn't he know how to reset or purge his old phone?
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Old Market Researchers never die...they just get broken down by age and sex.
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09-01-2006, 04:38 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1
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Jon Westfall
You must go to his website jonwestfall.com, and I think you will gain a better understanding of why he says the things he says.
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09-01-2006, 05:08 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 351
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Re: Jon Westfall
I dont worry about scare mongering stuff like this.
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iPhone / iPod(s) / Mac Desktop & Portables.. yet I'm a Windows/MS Platform Dev ;)
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09-01-2006, 05:35 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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And what information do people have on their phones that is really so top-secret anyway? For me, any information such as passwords, log-ins etc. is usually kept in a secure encrypted e-wallet or similar file, so it isn't accessible using the methods described.
Does anyone really care if some random person finds out the phone numbers of their friends, or who you had appointments with 2 years ago? This sounds a lot like typical fear mongering from the media to me. The only time this would seem to have relevance is if one was trying to find information regarding a cheating spouse or the like.
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09-01-2006, 06:30 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by whydidnt
And what information do people have on their phones that is really so top-secret anyway?
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That's a very good question. I'd love to know just how often an organization has become significantly compromised because one of its employees lost his/her PDA or DayTimer. Other than creating fodder for a few third-rate movies, has the fear of losing this kind of information ever actually materialized?
Granted, today's PDAs have the potential to contain all kinds of data that has never been possible with yesterday's paper-based organizers. But in reality it doesn't seem to me that phones or PDAs represent any greater risk than older organizers?
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Old Market Researchers never die...they just get broken down by age and sex.
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09-01-2006, 06:39 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Re: Jon Westfall
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Originally Posted by kiwi
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Originally Posted by pctech3
jonwestfall.com
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8O  8)
lol!!! G E E E E E E E E K!!! |
For the life of me I don't know why this came up in a post on device security, but heck, why not? Doesn't everyone own a pair of Morpheus-style sunglasses?
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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09-01-2006, 07:40 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 351
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Re: Jon Westfall
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Originally Posted by Jon Westfall
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Originally Posted by kiwi
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Originally Posted by pctech3
jonwestfall.com
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8O 8)
lol!!! G E E E E E E E E K!!! |
For the life of me I don't know why this came up in a post on device security, but heck, why not? Doesn't everyone own a pair of Morpheus-style sunglasses? |
sorry mate, its a friday and was having some fun. :devilboy: I can delete my post if its too offensive or you can make some sheep joke directed at me :lol:
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iPhone / iPod(s) / Mac Desktop & Portables.. yet I'm a Windows/MS Platform Dev ;)
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09-01-2006, 11:53 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 175
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What Me worry?? 8O
No, not eaven close 8)
Just because some ubergeek is able to stamp up a few leftowers on a old smartphone, doesn't mean that every script kiddie wil do the same, with every phone bought at e-bay :roll:
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