Pictured above: David George said secondhand laptops
pose a major risk to company security.
A Midlands information and technology risk expert has warned of
the dangers to businesses of secondhand personal computers and
laptops being sold at car boot sales.
David George, partner and head of Deloitte's Enterprise Risk
Services practice in the Midlands, said PCs and laptops, along with
other computer hardware, sold at car boot sales may still contain
sensitive business data, which could cause significant damage to a
company's reputation if it falls into the wrong hands.
According to Mr George, car boot sales up and down the country
are littered with computer hardware, providing rich pickings for
would be criminals.
"Walk around any one of the thousands of car boot sales that
take place every weekend across the country and you will find at
least one computer or laptop for sale," he said.
"More often than not these are items that are being sold by
people who may have lost their job or have left a company but have
retained their pc or laptop and are now selling them in order to
raise some extra cash.
"Alternatively, it may be that a company has disposed of their
old hardware through established channels, for example donated it,
which then ends up at a car boot sale.
"Either way, if the data hasn't been properly erased from the
device it could pose a very real risk to company security."
Mr George said businesses need to have a process in place which
ensures that data is completely erased from all its hardware
earmarked for disposal.
"Simply pressing a delete button doesn't do this," he
added.
"Additionally, human resources and asset management processes
should be established to ensure that each member of staff due to
leave the company returns all assets and that there is a policy in
place to dispose of their hardware. Finally, encrypting data
storage equipment, particularly removable devices, is also good
practice."