How an Intimate Selfie That’s Deleted Can Be Recovered and Used for Blackmail
When it comes time to upgrade, many smartphone users will sell off their old device in hopes of making extra cash. However, if the phone's memory is improperly wiped, an experienced hacker can use advanced tools to recover sensitive data off the used phone. Let's talk about how this happens and what can possibly be recovered by a hacker.
The extent of what can be recovered off an old phone was determined by Avast. They recently did an experiment where 20 used Android phones were purchased off of eBay (phones that were wiped and reset to factory settings). Avast then used software like Oxygen Forensic Suite and AccessData's Forensic Toolkit to see what they could find. This simple experiment turned up a shocking amount of personal data.
- 40,000 photos
- 750 emails
- 250 names and addresses
- The identities of four previous owners
- One completed loan application
- Anti-Theft app (by Avast)
- Nuke My Phone
- Cerberus anti theft
- Vipre Mobile