Vicky's Zone

Windows: Free utility Identity Finder scans your hard drive looking for sensitive information, like credit card numbers and passwords.

Identity Finder searches your Windows user folder, including files and browser data, for possible credit card numbers or passwords, and then lets you know so you can do something about it. The program also has a
few options for dealing with that data, like "shredding" the file (which will make it unrecoverable), encrypting the file, or quarantining it.



You'll want to make sure that the data is actually something you want to scrub before you do so, because like anything, it may come up with some false positives—you don't want to accidentally delete something that just ends up being a random 16-digit number in an important script and not a credit card number. That said, though, it can be a useful tool. Even if you take precautions like encrypting your data, you may find that there's a whole lot of information on your computer that would be vulnerable if your PC were stolen.

Identity Finder is a free download for Windows only. The free version searches for credit card number and passwords, though there are pay versions available that will search much more, like social security numbers, bank account numbers, and driver's license numbers, in more areas on your drive (like email messages). There is also a pay Mac version available.



    Identity Finder [via PC World]