Report highlights importance of secure mobile recycling
Wednesday, August 30, 2017 - 11:18:16
The latest survey by Kroll Ontrack has shown that a surprising proportion of British smartphone users who sell their old handsets to recycling firms are uncertain if sensitive info has been properly erased before they ditch their unwanted hardware.
Ninety seven per cent of people said that they own a mobile of some kind, but 11 per cent confirmed that they had not properly considered the security implications involved with disposing of an old phone.
A similar issue is present when looking at the other gadgets that are commonly owned in the UK, with almost a third of consumers taking a tablet computer with them when they head out and about, making data loss a real risk in a number of scenarios.
Report spokesperson, Phil Bridge, said that it was vital that mobile users took steps to completely delete private information from any device they choose to recycle or sell on to a third party.
For this reason, it is also sensible to only sell old mobile phones to reputable recycling firms, as most of the major names in the industry will wipe any stray data from the devices they handle before they are refurbished or dismantled to avoid customers being exposed.
Bridge went on to argue that Brits should be more concerned about backing up the data they store on mobile devices than they are at the moment, as just 32 per cent of respondents to the study said that they currently had the means to restore this information if the handset itself went missing.
Security in the age of the smartphone is a complex issue and one which many people may find difficult to grasp. But with myriad threats facing modern mobile users in the UK, ignorance of the risks is not acceptable.
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