Most of us know by now the risks attached to selling used USBs, with the issue of your recorded files being retrieved and information exposed being a real threat. Whether you own personalised USBs that you no longer use or have a collection of USB sticks that are just taking up room, we urge you not to consider selling them online.
Especially as, now, further warnings have been issued surrounding the dangers of selling used USBs. The latest warning comes after researchers at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, carried out a recent study on used USBs. The results are somewhat shocking. Let us now explore those findings.
Towards the end of 2020, researchers at Abertay University set out to investigate just how safe the data on second hand USBs are. For the study, the team purchased 100 second hand USBs from an online auction website, before looking into what was on them and how easy it was to extract the information. Here are the takeaway points from the studies, which reveal what we knew before, that selling used USBs is like playing with fire:
Back in 2019, we provided a feature article on the idea of Selling Your Second Hand USBs is a Bad Idea. In that article, we include stats from a study carried out by Hertfordshire University researchers, who also bought 100 USB sticks online for their studies.
Speaking on behalf of Abertay’s division of cybersecurity, Professor Karen Renaud, remarked, as reported by Abertay University: “An unscrupulous buyer could feasibly use recovered files to access sellers’ accounts if the passwords are still valid, or even try the passwords on the person’s other accounts given that password re-use is so widespread.”
She continued, “Software is freely available that can permanently wipe USB drives, so if you are going to sell a device we would strongly recommend using that.” Professor Renaud, who was involved in the project that was led by Masters student James Conacher, went on to dub the findings of the project “extremely concerning.”
Of course, the majority of people who buy a second hand USB online are genuinely buying the product to use. However, there is undoubtedly a small percentage of buyers that are in the market to steal your data. The issue of selling second hand USBs online shouldn’t be taken lightly, as the results of both the Abertay University and Hertfordshire University suggest. As revealed by the recent findings, sensitive data such as passwords, tax returns and even bank statements were amongst the types of files recovered. This is extremely worrying and, if such information falls into the wrong hands, you could very well be victim of data theft unknowingly.
So, what’s the bottom line? If you are selling your used USBs online to get a return on investment, consult our team of experts before doing so. This way, you can be sure that your old personalised USB sticks, or whatever type of USB you are selling, has been wiped of your data. Contact us today to discuss the topic further and to ensure the safety of your files.
Recently, we’ve covered the issue of securely backing up your data under GDPR guidelines. Learn how to Securely Back-Up Your Data with Custom USBs from Flash UK, before wiping it from the USB, by reading our article.
