Kroll Fraud Solutions Blog – A Dialogue on Data Security

Back at the first week of May, we discussed the CBS News report about copier security that was gaining so much attention. It has come as a surprise to a lot of people that copiers containing hard drives are continually and, quite frequently, returned to the office supply center with sensitive data still housed inside. In fact, it has drawn the attention of Congressman Edward Markey, who wrote a letter to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission urging him to look into the matter. The FTC has responded, assuring Markey that they will reach out to those in the copier and office supply industry “to ensure that they are aware of the privacy risks associated with digital copiers and to determine whether they are warning their customers about these risks, whether they are providing education and guidance on this subject, and whether manufacturers and resellers are providing options for secure copying.”

Faxes and copiers hang on to your sensitive documents a lot longer than you think

As if worrying about causing a data breach through simple fax error weren’t enough, there’s another menace lurking in your office equipment that can sabotage your security. Most copiers and fax machines less than seven years old contain hard drives or memory chips that can record and store any data sent through the machine; that is, any document you copy or fax.