EOL IT Aims to bring Data Theft to Book

A leading IT solutions company has launched a war of words on data and identity theft.

EOL IT Services has compiled a guide aimed at cutting the incidence of data theft in both corporate and private life – and it is downloadable free from the Essex company’s website – www.eolitservices.co.uk .

A recent survey by the consumer magazine Which? found that in the UK more than 100,000 people a year are affected by identity theft at an annual cost of £1.3 billion.

These individuals plus thousands of companies suffer from data theft, often because redundant IT equipment such as computers do not go through a thorough enough erasure system.

A thriving black market operates worldwide to buy and sell identity details gleaned from hard drives still holding financial and personal information. An email password can change hands for up to £75.

EOL’s 16-page “Guide to Computer Data Security” explains in easy-to-understand and non-technical terms how important data security is; how the unscrupulous can retrieve data from discarded computer hard drives; and how information can be comprehensively erased.

EOL’s Managing Director Richard Parker said: “It is vitally important to put sensitive corporate and personal information beyond the reach of those who will use it for illegal purposes. Our guide highlights the risks people take in not erasing data as securely as we do as part of the many services we offer."

“The guide was produced as a result of feedback from our clients, their staff and our own employees.”

“As a responsible service provider, we are aiming to educate as many people as possible on the risks of insufficient or no data security. We are saying that 99% security is no security at all."

When it was first founded EOL built its reputation on providing effective data erasure to major companies where security is absolutely vital. In 2008, 11 years later, many of these banks, financial institutions and insurance companies remain EOL clients.

EOL continues to erase clients’ data to the highest and most respected level – CESG HMG Infosec Standard No 5 (enhanced). This is the level used to wipe top-secret Government and NATO data. There is a massive global market for redundant computers and hard drives and, if not erased to the highest standard by the methods used by EOL, people’s details can end up spread across the world.

Research has revealed that 37% of redundant hard drives still contain commercial and personal data. Information found on them includes:

Salaries
Sensitive company data
Bank and credit card details
Online purchasing details

Medical data

Richard Parker adds: “An email password can change hands for up to £75 and a verified Paypal account for up to £250. Data security is clearly a problem and I want people, especially business people, to work together to resolve this issue. There is no retrieving the data once it is out there in the public domain.”