| With 15 million Americans having their identities stolen | | | | theft threat when it comes to modern copiers. The |
| each year, the subject of identity theft has become | | | | hard drive contains a copy of everything it, well, copies. |
| one that most people are now familiar with and taking | | | | Deleting something from a hard drive does not get rid |
| steps to guard against. That being said, millions are still | | | | of it. Instead, it merely breaks the link to the document. |
| exposing their information without realizing it. One way | | | | Any computer programmer with half a brain can go in |
| thieves are picking up identities is through copy | | | | and find the documents. In fact, there is computer |
| machines. | | | | repair software for sale that does just this. |
| At first glance, you might think copiers would not be a | | | | So, what is the actual threat? Well, identity theft |
| problem area. Although you make a copy of | | | | criminals are going in and buying used multi-task |
| something sensitive, you have the copy and the original | | | | copiers on the cheap. They are then yanking the hard |
| document. As long as you don't leave them on the | | | | drive and rummaging through them to see what they |
| copiers or lose them going to and fro, what's the | | | | can find. People make copies of their bank and credit |
| possible risk? Well, it has to do with technology. | | | | card statements, social security cars and driver's |
| Most copiers these days are not just copiers. Instead, | | | | licenses all the time. If you've done it on one of these |
| they do everything but make you a martini. You can | | | | copiers, particularly at a retail shop, you are at risk. It is |
| copy, fax, scan, email and so on. How exactly does | | | | that simple. |
| the copier do all of this? It makes an image out of your | | | | How do you fight this? Well, do you really need to |
| document, saves it to a hard drive as data and then | | | | make copies of your documents? If so, do so only on |
| acts on that data depending on what you tell it to do. | | | | a straight copying machine that doesn't use a hard |
| The words "hard drive" should clue you into the identity | | | | drive to store images of the documents being copied. |
