Every day we learn about new vulnerabilities to our personal identities.
For example, many businesses use digital
photocopiers and
may not even realize the potential risks. Businesses
not only need to be wary when disposing desktop and laptop computers in
order to avoid a data breach with respect to information contained on
the hard drives, but they also need to be concerned with returning
leased photocopiers or disposing of photocopiers. These machines are
essentially large computers that specialize in scanning and copying.
According to CBS News, nearly every digital copier built since 2002
contains a hard drive. That hard drive can store an image of every
document copied or scanned by the machine. CBS News recently purchased 4
used digital photocopiers and found a treasure trove of material,
including protected health information and social security numbers. CBS
found information from a police department's sex crimes unit, pay stubs
with social security numbers and 300 pages of individual medical
records. As set forth in the CBS news report, there are steps that can
be taken to erase or secure these hard drives, including encryption. A
link to the CBS report can be found here.
