dumpster diving

/dump'ster di:ving/ , n. 1. The practice of sifting refuse from an office or
technical installation to extract confidential data, especially
security-compromising information ( dumpster is an Americanism for what is
elsewhere called a skip ). Back in AT&T's monopoly days, before paper
shredders became common office equipment, phone phreaks (see phreaking )
used to organize regular dumpster runs against phone company plants and
offices. Discarded and damaged copies of AT&T internal manuals taught them
much. The technique is still rumored to be a favorite of crackers operating
against careless targets. 2. The practice of raiding the dumpsters behind
buildings where producers and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are
located, with the expectation (usually justified) of finding discarded but
still-valuable equipment to be nursed back to health in some hacker's den.
Experienced dumpster-divers not infrequently accumulate basements full of
moldering (but still potentially useful) cruft.