Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid

Sun, 18 Dec 2022 04:24:33 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/11/half-of-computer-repairs-result-in-snooping-of-sensitive-data-study-finds/>

"If you’ve ever worried about the privacy of your sensitive data when seeking a
computer or phone repair, a new study suggests you have good reason. It found
that privacy violations occurred at least 50 percent of the time, not
surprisingly with female customers bearing the brunt.

Researchers at University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, recovered logs from
laptops after receiving overnight repairs from 12 commercial shops. The logs
showed that technicians from six of the locations had accessed personal data
and that two of those shops also copied data onto a personal device. Devices
belonging to females were more likely to be snooped on, and that snooping
tended to seek more sensitive data, including both sexually revealing and
non-sexual pictures, documents, and financial information."

Via The RISKS Digest Volume 33 Issue 54:
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33/54#subj4

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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