I ordered a Garmin Venture GPS (which I’m happy with so far) from Provantage. I received it in the mail earlier today. When I opened the box the first thing I noticed was the absence of packing chips. Instead, it was filled with strip-cut shredded paper. I pulled out a thin line and read what was on it. Names, addresses, IP addresses, order numbers, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses… these idiots packed my GPS with a copy of their shredded customer database! I saved a strip:
Even though this nonsense is why I have a job and get paid (I work in Information Security), I can’t say I feel too happy about this. It really suprised me because I had seen Provantage as a respectable online retailer until this point. Unfortunately, now I have to take them down. Please join me in publicly shaming Provantage for their way below par OPSEC , digg it!
I know there are free, possibly GPL, “unshredders” out there, but I can’t seem to find them. If you can, please post a link in the comments. Thanks! Here’s some info to start you off: Paper Shredder (Wikipedia).
