On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM, David Mazzaccaro <[email protected]> wrote: > Is it feasible that someone could unwind a used ribbon and pull the > information off of it?
According to the NSA/DoD, yes. Realistically, how serious a problem this is depends on the type of ribbon and how it's used. Some ribbons cycle repeatedly, and are unlikely to retain usable data over the long term. Others only pass the print head once, essentially leaving a perfect negative image of the print behind. Dot matrix printers tend to be the former. Thermal transfer printers (including most electronic label makers), the later. These sorts of things are often dictated by regulations. In the DoD space (which I am most familiar with), they don't care about "unlikely". They want "assurance" -- a very high level of confidence. In such cases, you destroy ribbons when they get used up. "Take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." You should do what's appropriate for your situation. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
