Secure Erase?

[Chris Smith45]

I only signed up to comment on this article.

You guys should stop giving advice on mobile data security.

Android and windows phone 7 have very insecure ways of factory resetting and a standard factory reset is not enough if you value what was on the device.

Please stop putting out such rubbish that a standard factory reset is enough when anyone working in IT security will tell you this is not the case and is very inaccurate information.

Rant over!

 

[Harrie-S]

I only signed up to comment on this article.

You guys should stop giving advice on mobile data security.

Android and windows phone 7 have very insecure ways of factory resetting and a standard factory reset is not enough if you value what was on the device.

Please stop putting out such rubbish that a standard factory reset is enough when anyone working in IT security will tell you this is not the case and is very inaccurate information.

Rant over!

Welcome to WC Chris,

I appreciate that you took the time to register to comment on this post.

But here we do not talk about android but about windows phones. And also not about windows phone 7 but about windows phone 8(.1).

So does a factory reset not erase the data of a windows phone 8.

I bye the way agree that a factory reset for android / windows phone 7 is not secure.

 

[EndOfRope]

Hello,
basically a factory reset will delete all data so an average user will not be able to restore data. But i remeber some years ago there were cases when used hard disks were sold on ebay and criminals were using those to readout things like credit card information.
On your phone you might have also your credit card number and the buyer could have something bad in mind and tools to read out data from a resetted phone. As long as you are not the guy who has implemented the factory reset in the phone software, how do you know everything is completly erased?
I have never sold my used phones.

 

[Harrie-S]

First of all being carefull is very wise..

But comparing a hard disk from a few years back with a windows phone 8 now is more then a little bit wrong.

And if data could be accessed (which is above explained " not " possible) then you need to be way more than an average user.

Please check some threads where people tried to recover there erased photo's and all failed.

So if you want to worry than worry about a buyer who pay's with counterfeit money. And not about a buyer who may want your credit card number and thinks it's easier to extract it out of your phone than just hit your on your head an take your wallet and phone.

 

[RumoredNow]

Welcome, Chris.

I only signed up to comment on this article.

You guys should stop giving advice on mobile data security.

Android and windows phone 7 have very insecure ways of factory resetting and a standard factory reset is not enough if you value what was on the device.

Please stop putting out such rubbish that a standard factory reset is enough when anyone working in IT security will tell you this is not the case and is very inaccurate information.

Rant over!

I think you address an important point... IT security professionals would have more knowledge and tools available to them for recovering data, definitely.

It is somewhat hard as to where to draw the line. If you are handing your phone over to your 5 year old niece Sally for an mp3 player and offline box a factory reset is more than adequate. If you are expecting a Government seizure and forensic examination of your device a factory reset is next to useless.

Considering the OP's concerns and not knowing specifically where next his device is going, many assumed a niece Sally level scenario. And for many that IS sufficient.

Before the thread devolved into a destroy the phone in a creative manner sort of game, some serious and relevant discussion did take place. If you followed the link I presented in post #6 you would find a tool that fills the internal memory of the device with dummy info and erases it again. Combined with a few resets this would seriously hamper any data retrieval efforts. A serious solution was put forth.

But again, most don't need such extreme measures. They are simply handing their used device to a friend or family member, or perhaps selling it to another user rather than into the hands of the Russian Mafia.

I'm the first to advise people that they need AV where applicable, that data can be recovered by technically proficient individuals, etc... We all know here that the dangers are real and the thread was a sincere and realistic discussion until I devolved it with a joke which ran on.

Perhaps you'd share your recommendation on what should be done by anyone who wants to sell their used Windows Phone on the open market???