Personal computers, smartphones, tablets, hard drives and so on may store information about usernames and passwords of their previous owners.

Cybercriminals often gain access to information containing state secrets if they get their hands on the devices previously used in ministries, departments, and state enterprises.

If a device falls into the hands of a hacker, they can extract and use critical information. There were cases when hackers got access to accounts and information that was stored on the hard drive, up to confidential and state secrets, when computers that were previously used in government agencies are sold.

Information that belongs to state secrets may become publicly available, when it falls into the hands of the people who should not have access to it.

So, it is reasonable to use special utilities that delete data without a trace, i.e. reset the information stored on such devices to the factory settings.

Remember that mere formatting the memory, both internal and external, may be insufficient.