Do you know where fully 90% of all identity theft problems originate? They start at your PC or Mac. Many people think that these problems begin at and spread from an outside source. While this is often true. Most of the time security breaches occur when someone unauthorized to view your files gains access to them. There are many ways that a person can accidentally or maliciously gain access to your private information even after you have deleted files. When the file was deleted from your computer’s hard disk drive the information held in that file remains in magnetic form until new information comes along to overwrite it.
The only way to be sure that no one can use a basic data recovery program to reopen that file information is to overwrite data beforehand by using a file shredder program. Sometimes referred to as a file eraser, these programs not only overwrite the original file information but they do so in a way so as to scramble that data time and again. This results in a complete drive wipe that is so secure the U.S. Department of Defense rates these programs has usable for removal of top secret information.