Evilsumbichez and Other Evilones

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I much appreciate your input, gentlemen, believe me. I am glad for the differing perspectives, too, as that is a good thing for somebody trying to figure out what to do next. I am worried, though.

That's actually good. It's the people that don't worry and don't question that end up scammed.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

What really ticks me off, though, and frustrates me is that I can do nothing to thwart, punish, or stop any of the Sumbichez. I can't drive to where they park their whatever's just to say Hi.

But as Ferris Bueller said , "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Too much living yet to do to waste time anointing vengeance upon the wickedonez.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Computer question:
I'm running an "Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware" service on my computer, at the moment (so far, 1 1/2 hrs of those moments) and on its main page it says to me:
"Permanently delete your sensitive info...Shred sensitive files so they're gone for good."

What do they likely mean by "sensitive files" ?

What would be "sensitive" ?

May I ask for your expertise,guys.

[chuck]

"Sensitive data" means personal info or bank/credit/tax returns/SSN information.

BTW, there are patterns to almost all of this stuff which makes it possible for a computer program to scan files looking for it. Unless the files are encrypted (which does add a potential layer of security) or they are images of sensitive data (aka a TIFF scan of a tax return) the scanning program will pick up the patterns. It MAY also be able to read meta data or file names to flag potentially sensitive information. Useful tool, make sure anything you consider as important is backed up somewhere offline, either optical, thumb drive or good old hard copy. Once the stuff is shredded it is gone.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

"Sensitive data" means personal info or bank/credit/tax returns/SSN information.

Yup. Should never have any of that stuff actually on your computer at all. And, certainly not in any files or folders with titles that make that obvious either. And, never have a file or folder that contains your user names and passwords to any other web sites, banking, etc.

And, even if you delete it, it's actually still there on the drive (most drives) until it get written over unless you reformat the drive or a partitioned part of a drive.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The only place I would have any bank info would be in my mail when I save a monthly notice from them into a "folder."

In my Favorites, I have some sites for bill paying, but that's all.

Ok?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The only place I would have any bank info would be in my mail when I save a monthly notice from them into a "folder."

Depends. What's in the notice - your account numbers and routing? Or just "info"?

In my Favorites, I have some sites for bill paying, but that's all.
Ok?

As long as when you open those links that they do not pre-fill with your usernames or have your passwords saved, probably yes.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The only place I would have any bank info would be in my mail when I save a monthly notice from them into a "folder."

Depends. What's in the notice - your account numbers and routing? Or just "info"?


My reply: Only the last 4 digits of the account are stated, in the e-mail notice, below which it says, ""Statements and Documents," which I have to click-on to open and then submit an I.D. # and Password, which I never have them save.

In my Favorites, I have some sites for bill paying, but that's all.
Ok?

As long as when you open those links that they do not pre-fill with your usernames or have your passwords saved, probably yes.

Excellent advice. Thank you, very ,much.
Murph

[MurphOnMillerAve]

And Thank You, Chuck for your kindness in posting that reply to me.
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

BTW, when you discard a computer, do make sure to really destroy the drive.

[chuck]

BTW, when you discard a computer, do make sure to really destroy the drive.

There are ways to securely erase hard drives, newer units have a built in secure erase function but you need to boot off of an external disk to enable this feature (about 5x faster than an external secure erase command).

If the drive has no value a drill press or a band saw with a metal cutting blade does a good job of making any data retrieval moot. We used to disassemble any drive that we could not access electronically and physically score the platters. We did run across some drives that actually were diamond coated, the scoring tool just dances across the surface. We had to bend the platters to render them unreadable.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

We had to bend the platters to render them unreadable.

I have a magnet that when applied externally to a drive casing that does of good job at erasing things, but it's hard to beat the satisfaction of repeatedly applying an 10 lb hammer to an external drive,

[chuck]

Just before it was decommissioned a ten year old MRI machine, we very, very, very carefully used it to erase a bunch of magnetic media based storage devices. Hard drives, floppies, mag tape. In the really old days we would toss the drives off of the third story balcony to a concrete loading dock. Go down and pick them up and shake them. If they rattled they were done. If not, repeat process until they did

BTW, the old dot matrix printer heads were great for erasing floppies and credit card mag stripes. Just line them up on the shield and run off some print outs. The pin firing mechanism applied a very strong alternating field. If you still have access to one, just put a compass on the paper shield and watch it spin/twitch as the print head scans back and forth.

[robert.]

Your info is everywhere. You may be safe and destroy things but other people don't. Banks, department stores , gas stations and other businesses store your info in easily accessible places.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Your info is everywhere. You may be safe and destroy things but other people don't. Banks, department stores , gas stations and other businesses store your info in easily accessible places.

Well, yes & no. And, there's no sense in just giving it all away either w/o thinking at all. Keeping accounts segregated from access and use, and then keeping 1-2 specifically set aside and isolated from all the others for electronic use only helps. For many years I had a credit card that was only used for all electronic bills and purchases that was linked to a bank where I had no accounts. Thinking a little and trying a little goes a long ways to protect yourself - you can do a lot, or you can do nothing and give up.