Your Hard Drive Is Spying on You
We do just about everything with our computers -- shopping, gossiping, and, occasionally, actual work. Meanwhile, your hard drive is quietly recording all of it, from Social Security numbers to credit card data to those honeymoon photos you didn't show the in-laws. For the most part, that's a good thing: It's that capacity for instant data retrieval that makes the computer so useful. But for an identity thief, it's a great thing: A whopping third of us leave sensitive information intact when we discard our computers. And even files you've deleted can be easily recovered.
Sometimes, those left-over bits can be valuable clues for crime fighters: The field of digital forensics is revolutionizing detective work say experts, just as DNA evidence did last decade. Watch the above video and step into the high-tech labs of a cutting edge digital forensics firm; learn how investigators reconstruct computer data to solve crimes -- and to win lawsuits. And most importantly, learn how you can delete files so that they're deleted for good. Plus: Recent headlines from the Switched newsroom.
Related Links:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Boldrini Paolo @ Oct 26th 2007 7:43AM
Gloster corona e consort. Allevamento canarini
Gloster corona e consort. Sito inerente l'allevamento l'alimentazione, la genetica del canarino.
Boldrini Paolo @ Oct 26th 2007 7:44AM
Gloster corona e consort. Allevamento canarini
Gloster corona e consort. Sito inerente l'allevamento l'alimentazione, la genetica del canarino.
http://www.glosters.it
christen @ Oct 26th 2007 10:34AM
always use deleting/shredding programs..
http://www.xtremegadgets.net
jimmmy king @ Oct 27th 2007 9:19AM
IMPEACH TERRORIST BUSH, CHENEY, WHAT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION? INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALS BUSH, CHENEY COULD GET THE WORLD OFF THE DIRTY CARBON ARAB OIL, AND ON TO CLEAN BURNING ALCOHOL FUELS LIKE THE SAME FUELS INDY 500 RACE CARS TRAVEL ON AT THE EXCESS SPEEDS OF 200 MPH, BUT CRIMINALS BUSH, CHENEY RATHER WASTE AMERICAN LIVES AND HISS AWAY A TRILLION DOLLAR FOR THEIR GREED. IMPEACH TRAITOR BUSH, CHENEY FOR A BETTER WORLD AND DUMP REPUBLICONS.
monser perez @ Oct 28th 2007 8:54PM
Jimmy King you are such an idiot....
Muy muy idiota....................
Monser
Isabela, PR
willowreed @ Oct 28th 2007 9:56PM
jimmy king..you truly are an idiot..
wils concurs.
susan @ Oct 28th 2007 10:59PM
NSA Likely Reading Windows Software In Your Computer
by Sherwood Ross | Oct 17 2007 |
Sooner or later, a country that spies on its neighbors will turn on its own people, violating their privacy, stealing their liberties.
President Bush's grab for unchecked eavesdropping powers is the culmination of what the National Security Agency(NSA) has spent forty years doing unto others.
And if you're upset by the idea of NSA tapping your phone, be advised NSA likely can also read your Windows software to access your computer.
European investigative reporter Duncan Campbell claimed NSA had arranged with Microsoft to insert special "keys" in Windows software starting with versions from 95-OSR2 onwards.
And the intelligence arm of the French Defense Ministry also asserted NSA helped to install secret programs in Microsoft software. According to France's Strategic Affairs Delegation report, "it would seem that the creation of Microsoft was largely supported, not least financially, by NSA, and that IBM was made to accept the (Microsoft) MS-DOS operating system by the same administration." That report was published in 1999.
The French reported a "strong suspicion of a lack of security fed by insistent rumours about the existence of spy programmes on Microsoft, and by the presence of NSA personnel in Bill Gates' development teams." It noted the Pentagon was Microsoft's biggest global client.
In the U.S., Andrew Fernandez, chief computer scientist with Cryptonym, of Morrisville, N.C., found Microsoft developers had failed to remove debugging symbols used to test his software before they released it.
Inside the code Fernandez found labels for two keys, dubbed "KEY" and NSAKEY". Fernandez, though, termed it NSA's "back door" into the world's most widely used operation system. He said this makes it "orders of magnitude easier for the US government to access your computer." Microsoft called the report "completely false."
Apparently, agenices of the military-industrial complex take on a life of their own. NSA, for example, has long engaged in commercial espionage eavesdropping on European businesses to benefit U.S. firms, according to William Blum, author of "Rogue State"(Common Courage Press).
NSA achieves this through ECHELON("E") -- an intelligence cartel dominated by the U.S. with Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada as junior partners. Launched in the 1970s to monitor Cold War data, "E" morphed into "a network of massive, highly automated interception stations covering the globe," Blum said.
Using "E", NSA has spied on German and French businesses which, as a result, have come off second best against their American competitors. Among companies targeted were Thomson S.A., of Paris, Airbus Industrie of Blagnac Cedex, France, and the German wind generator-manufacturer Enercon. "We know this technology("E") is there and it is being used on us," Josef Tarkowski, former head of counter-espionage for the German government told The London Sunday Times Internet Edition.
"Like a mammoth vacuum cleaner in the sky," Blum documents, NSA's continuously orbiting satellites "sucks it all up:home phone, office phone, cellular phone, email, fax, telex∑satellite transmissions, fiber-optic communications traffic, microwave links∑voice, text, images." These are then processed by high-powered computers at Ft. Meade, Md., NSA headquarters.
Billions of messages are sucked up daily, Blum writes, including those by presidents, prime ministers, the UN Secretary-General, the pope, the Queen of England, transnational corporation executives, and foreign embassies. It's been estimated "E" sifts through 99.9999 percent of all global communications to get at the 0.0001 percent that is of interest to it.
Each of the English-speaking partners, Blum asserts, "is breaking its own laws, those of other countries, and international law -- the absence of court-issued warrants permitting surveillance of specific individuals is but one example."
"E" works by mining for key words that are extracted by computers and passed along to humans for evaluation.
Some NSA activities came to light during the countdown to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. At the time, the U.S. listened in on the private conversations of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, and on the deliberations about Iraq of all members of the UN Security Council. It also spied on organizations such as Christian Aid and Amnesty International. Earlier, it was said to have spied on U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond(R.-S.C.)
Less well known has been E's spying on foreign firms. In 1998, German wind generator-maker Enercon developed a cheaper way to generate electricity from wind power, but its U.S. rival, Kenetech, said it had patented a near-identical process, and got a court order to ban Enercon sales in the U.S., reporter Blum writes. NSA's role was exposed when one of its employees revealed he had stolen Enercon's secrets by tapping telephone and computer links between its research and production units.
Again, NSA, with CIA aid, Blum and other sources say, obtained covert information from French Airbus Industrie that enabled its U.S. rivals Boeing and McDonnell Douglas to win a $1 billion contract. "The same agencies also eavesdropped on Japanese representatives during negotiations with the U.S. in 1995 over auto parts trade," Blum added.
The Sunday Times also reported Thomas-CSF, a French electronics maker, lost a $1.4 billion deal to supply Brazil with radar because the U.S. intercepted details of the negotiations and passed them to Raytheon, the U.S. firm that makes the Patriot missile. Raytheon won the contract.
"E" is headquartered on British soil on a 560-acre base at Menwith Hill, in North Yorkshire, the largest listening post in the world, taken over by NSA in 1966. As well, the U.S. operates an enormous radar and communications complex at Bad Aibling, near Munich, that is also an NSA intercept station, and a dozen signals intelligence bases in Japan.
NSA also read other peoples' mail by inking a secret agreement with Crypto AG, a Swiss maker of encryption technology, to rig their machines before sale so that when foreign governments used the random encryption key the enciphered message would be clandestinely transmitted to NSA.
The result: when Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia and more than 100 other countries sent messages to their embassies, trade offices, and armed forces around the world via telex, fax, and radio, NSA spooks could read them. NSA, by the way, employs some 30,000 workers and, if it were a private corporation, would rank among the top 50 on the "Fortune 500." It's budget, of course, is secret but it's a bet NSA is cheerfully gobbling up umpteen billions of your tax dollars every year. Of course, other countries today emulate NSA's activities. China, for example, is said to have hacked into British defense and foreign policy secrets and the German weekly Der Spiegel recently reported German computers at the chancellery, and foreign, economic, and research ministries are infected by Chinese espionage programs.
Rather than shutting down or curbing NSA activities, President Bush is expanding NSA's role. Even if a rubber stamp Congress goes along, not everybody approves. The American Bar Association, our largest lawyer group, has denounced Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program.
"The issue is whether the president can unilaterally conduct secret surveillance, taking into his hands the awesome power to invade privacy," ABA President Michael Greco said.
Greco may be upset because the Bill of Rights declares: "The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probably cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
But what did George Washington know compared to George Bush?
Buppy @ Nov 1st 2007 9:58PM
I have mt tin foil hat on and Cheney's rays cannot penetrate my mind. Only Hillary can blow bullshit up my skirt. I have blotofoil underware to prevent genocide gas from Obama penetrating my reproductive organs. I shred my thoughts.
Lee Harvey Oswald is alive and has become the secret mayor of Cleveland.
Walk thru the rock& Roll museum backwards and see how Dick Cheney has turned everything around. OMG!
Vinny @ Nov 1st 2007 11:18PM
Hi Jimmmy! Go back to eating the dog you're cooking. Foreign Freak!
Hi Susan! If I were you I'd be putting my tin foil hat on right about now. Paranoid freak!
The USA is a great Nation. We have checks and balances that unite our country as we grow. Take a hike to another country if you question the USA and give us some feed back on your experiences. Enjoy the day!
Rod Gates @ Nov 1st 2007 11:39PM
For Vinny, AKA 'My-country-right-or-wrong-love-it-or-leave-it'(or: 'I haven't an authentic,original thought in my head!):
The Unknown Citizen
by W. H. Auden
(To JS/07 M 378 [AKA VINNY]
This Marble MonumentIs Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in a hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
From Another Time by W. H. Auden, published by Random House. Copyright © 1940 W. H. Auden, renewed by The Estate of W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Kurt Pilker @ Nov 2nd 2007 1:17AM
For best results, when selling your computer or otherwise disposing of it, take the hard drive out and physically destroy the casing and platters on the inside. Even the best programs that erase the drives and then write garbage over and over on the drive can still leave fragments that can be reconstructed. If selling, give new owners a new drive. Only way to keep your data, YOUR data.
bill @ Nov 2nd 2007 1:47AM
It is very obvious the Bush/Cheney haters are Democrats with a political agenda. They spout stupid stuff with absolutely no proof. They are still beating the worn out drum about WMD's being a lie. If it was a lie, all the major Democrats and European leaders told the same lie.
Lee @ Nov 2nd 2007 2:19AM
It's really quite simple. Yes, we're being spied on by our own gov't, this is nothing new.
Don't do anything wrong, and you have nothing to fear.
As far as old hard drives, i'll put this one to the torch after exposing it to an electromagnet, when i'm done with it.
tod @ Nov 2nd 2007 3:20AM
For those of us in the know .... It is an utter waste of millions of dollars annually by consumers to protect their computers..i.e, spyware, virus protection,etc! I am easily one of most prolific and proficient hackers on the planet and for myself and others like me it is laughingly easy to do everything from hack your aol email onto changing your credit (FICO) scores so your playing a futile game period. There is an old trick used by government agencies to truly obliterate your hard drive: Simply command the computer you are discarding to perform a function and while in midst of performing you take the tower and slam on a hard surface (drop it) and this I assure you will render the hard drive irrefragably and forever without hope of discern as to its content. Take it from a pro!
sassysandy @ Nov 2nd 2007 3:20AM
Bush is protecting your ass you idiot! remember 911?????????? would you rather us fight them here in the states! stupid is forever!
tod @ Nov 2nd 2007 3:22AM
For those of us immune to the b.s so called security measures on the web we find it laughable @ best that consumers pay millions of dollars for spyware, etc, and etc.... I am a true hacker and probably one of most proficient and prolific there is and for me to do everything from hack your e mail to change your credit (fico) scores is near childs play! There is an old trick used by government agencies to truly obliterate your hard drive: command a function on the computer you are discarding and while its in command drop the tower hard on a solid surface and I assure you this will render the hard drive irrefragably useless forevermore!
Val Fitzgerald @ Nov 2nd 2007 7:15AM
Hi Vinny:
Before you call people "freaks" and tell them that "we have checks and balances" to prevent Bush/Cheney's grab for our freedoms, be advised: it's exactly those "checks and balances" that those two crooks are attacking. That's what's got everybody here in the USA (except a few like yourself, Vinny) so scared...
Val Fitzgerald @ Nov 2nd 2007 7:30AM
Sassysandy:
Wow, get some sleep, will you? Spouting off on stuff you know zilch about, only shows the rest of us how truly dumb you are. Learn some stuff. Such as: The SAUDIS did 9/11 (and no, you poor thing, 'all them Ay-rabs is NOT alike' as someone (probably related to you) e-mailed me').
Saudi Arabia (close family friends and business partners to BushCo)shares a border with IRAQ. IRAQ'S NORTHERN PROVINCE HAS A MASSIVE OILFIELD IN THE KIRKUK REGION. That's why Saddam kept the Kurds (who live there) down. That's why we attacked Saddam--to get the Kurds free of him so that they could sell US their oil--and that's THE ONLY REASON THAT WE'RE IN IRAQ.
Now, Sassy: if it was even a LITTLE BIT like you said--what was that? Oh yeah: "Fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here (Oh LOL, as IF!)" then right after those 15 passports from the 19 terrorists on those planes were recovered and found to be SAUDI (a BLOOD thing, not just a nationality, look it up, dear) our diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia should have included a nice 20-kiloton NUKE over Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) instead of making war on the Saudis' hereditary deadly enemies, the IRAQIS (the two countries share a common border).
Maybe if you get some sleep, Sassy honey, you can learn some of this in school (instead of sleeping your school day away). Save the computer for weekends, dear--AFTER you've done your homework!
epathchina @ Jan 25th 2008 9:21AM
ePathChina China Electronics Wholesale, Digital Cameras, Car Electronics, MP3/MP4 Player Watches, Digital Photo Frames, GPS. ePathChina emphasizes product quality and good service for our clients
"China Electronics Wholesale"
"China Wholesale mp4 player"
"China Wholesale Digital Photo Frame"
"China Wholesale MP3/MP4 watch"
"China Wholesale digital camera "
epathchina @ Jan 25th 2008 9:26AM
ePathChina China Electronics Wholesale, Digital Cameras, Car Electronics, MP3/MP4 Player Watches, Digital Photo Frames, GPS. ePathChina emphasizes product quality and good service for our clients