Intimate pictures, user names and passwords were also recovered.

The front page of Fædrelandsvennen Aug. 27th 2014.

Noroff Professor Iain Sutherland made the front page of Fædrelandsvennen, after recovering surveillance videos from banks, along with highly intimate images, user names and passwords.

Randomly acquired hard drives online

The study was done on 30 randomly acquired hard drives, collected in the southern parts of Norway.

Professor Sutherland states that he is surprised what people leave behind when they dispose of old computers and hard drives:

A hard disk is like an old-fashioned video or cassette tape. To get rid of anything you have to record something over the old file to destroy it. Professor Iain Sutherland

Previous research found U.S. military launch procedures in used hard drives.

Read the full story in Fædrelandsvennen here. (A fee is required. The article is in Norwegian.)

How to clean your hard disk drive

- So how do you completely delete all content on a hard drive?

- A hard disk is like an old-fashioned video or cassette tape. To get rid of anything you have to record something over the old file to destroy it, Sutherland says.

- So wiping an entire hard drive usually means recording ‘0’s or ‘1’s over the whole disk (if you are getting rid of all content) or ‘0’s or ‘1’s over the file. Some operating systems offer this feature sometimes known as ‘secure deletion’.

- The other method is to actually destroy the hard disk drive (they key part is the circular platters inside the drive) thus makes it very difficult in some cases impossible to recover the data.

IT study programs at Noroff

Bachelor of Digital Forensics and Incident Response - study program

Bachelor in Digital Forensics and Incident Response

The rise in cyber attacks, ransomware and hacking has created a critical need for skilled digital investigators with the ability to respond to cyber security incidents.

  3 years
  Online
  Online PLUS Oslo. Read more here.
  Kristiansand, Norway
  Bachelor's Degree, 180 ECTS
Read more
Network and IT Security, vocational study

Network and IT Security

This programme provides a pragmatic IT education specifically designed to equip individuals with the skills necessary to combat hacking and cybercrime. The acute demand for IT security expertise provides excellent employment opportunities.

  2 years
  Available online
  Higher Professional Degree upon completion
Read more
Network and System Administration

Network and System Administration

The need for network and systems administration skills has never been greater. The management, configuration and administration of data networks and servers has evolved from being the domain of IT companies to a pervasive influence across multiple industries.

  1 year
  Online Study Programme
  Professional Degree
Read more
     
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