Destruction of data
Although difficult to imagine or believe, fraudsters and information thieves take a short time to recover and exploit data from hard drives that have not been cleaned properly. The solid evidence available to prove this is amazing. Every business has its own “information assets” that consist of large amounts of sensitive and confidential data, which can be a very costly loss to the company if they fall into the wrong hands.
Recycle an old computer? What happens to the data?
If you thought deleting data from old computers makes it disappear, you’re mistaken, because moving files to the Recycle Bin directs the computer to overwrite it. The data is always recorded. The best option for destroying data is to break it into small pieces physically or to cut it into completely useless pieces. Not all recyclers offer this service, so it is imperative to ensure that the waste recycling company that uses them provides these services.
Mobile destruction services
In most cases, companies choose to rent or purchase a shredder to get rid of important documents that are no longer required; But in some cases, this can be a large investment that your company cannot afford.
These services determine which professionals will come to your workplace with special devices used to shred important documents that you no longer need. Better yet, if you wish, you can also have a representative from your company certify that data destruction specialists destroy files that are no longer needed.
Data security
Before data is destroyed, documents must be kept in a safe place so that no one can access them. Most of the time, documents will be stored in special boxes with either a lock or a biometric security system. A data destruction company has access to these boxes, but a customer can also be given a key or access code to access the boxes.
Tips for safe data destruction
Whatever the reason for deleting data, there are many ways to erase a hard drive, some of which are more reliable than others. People have many options to choose from. Data erasure lies in these practices: a benchmark for companies that pay great attention to how to shut down their electronic systems:
- It may seem counterintuitive to destroy data safely, but a surprising number of people forget to monitor their computers before sanitizing data closely. That lowers the chances of someone tampering with your data before you wander around erasing it, either by staying close to your computer at all times or simply by creating a strict filter on who can touch your computer before disinfection. It is good to change passwords before cleaning the data to ensure that no one can do treason for 11 hours.
- Delete any active guest account before data destruction. That reduces your chances of an unexpected attack. All equipment with supplemental user accounts must be offset together with your account if it is no longer used.
- If the secure method of data destruction is overwritten, be sure to use the writing patterns illustrated by experts to reduce the chances of trace data remaining on the computer drive that you intend to destroy. The Seven Pass pattern is one of the most popular. Experts agree that a single scan is sufficient for most people, although the most sensitive data is generally given stronger processors to erase the data.
- Try degaussing for safe data destruction technology. That will likely require an expert to do the work for you. However, keep in mind that degaussed drives often end up inoperable or unusable until their manufacturers repaired. The necessary low-level formatting will be erased with the degaussing method.
- If you must use a physically secure data destruction method, make sure you adhere to it completely. That does not mean shooting a little steam at a puck that has been turned off by attacking it with a baseball bat: it means removing the controlled object with meticulous attention to detail.
Conclusion
Destruction of data is a vital service for companies that deal with important documents daily and need to dispose of them in a way that makes it impossible for third parties to access the sensitive information they contain. The good news is that companies, regardless of their size and the number of documents to destroy, and may take advantage of data erase services that will ensure that their most sensitive documents are destroyed without any opportunity to recover or access the information they contain.