Appropriate disposal methods
How to Dispose of old and obsolete computer Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Equipment and Avoid Getting Fined.
Incredibly, as many as 80% of all businesses in the UK don’t use a professional service to destroy, wipe-clean old Hard Disc Drives or have a data destruction policy. Unwanted USB Sticks, SSD’s or other hi-tech storage devices that often contain highly confidential and in some cases classified information. Only responsible methods ensure that the sensitive data on an HDD is 100% destroyed. Data cannot be forensically recovered using sophisticated equipment such as electron microscopes or other available scanning technologies which are being developed and improved all the time.
Process & Practise
If your current HDD disposal process or data destruction policy includes erasing, reformatting, wiping or even degaussing old HDD’s then worryingly, both your company and your customers and clients are vulnerable to identity theft and other similar crimes.
The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), sets the standard in the process of physical data destruction in the UK and yet many companies have never heard of this Statutory Body, let alone understand what they need to legally do to achieve compliance.
Many companies don’t know how to correctly dispose of old computer hard disk drive equipment. It’s not just a problem for the IT professionals that work in data centers. It can be difficult to find recycling centers that will take them, or they may not even know where to start looking for one! This blog post provides clear instructions on what you need to do with your old hard drives before throwing them away. Ensuring you can avoid being fined by the CPNI.
- A computer hard drive contains sensitive company data that needs to be properly disposed of.
- The most common form of disposal is by recycling the hard drives, which destroys all the information on them and leaves no traceable evidence
- If you want to discard your old computer hard drive, look for a recycler near you that will securely destroy it for you
- You can also hire a professional firm to do this for you – make sure they are certified professionals who know what they’re doing!
- If these options don’t appeal to you, then there’s always smashing or drilling the disk into pieces with a drill press or other power tools!
- Be sure not to store your discarded computer discs next to other “live” disks to avoid confusion and accidental reuse of those discs!
The risks!
Computer hard drives have long been an information security risk. The data on a single hard drive, when printed out, could easily cover ten to twelve football pitches! Imagine what can happen if the wrong person gets their hands on it. You might lose your personal and business secrets in no time at all. Whether you throw them away or let them lie forgotten in deep storage, old hard drives are potential “identity theft” bombs just waiting to go off… until now that is! We securely and systematically delete the information on these devices so there’s never any chance of sensitive info being leaked back into circulation again.
Managed Service
If you’re looking for a hassle-free way to get rid of your old hard drives, we have the solution! Our mobile team can come to your site and you can watch as they destroy every drive or collect them from anywhere. Once collected, each hard-drive will be meticulously dismantled before being ground down into 16mm pieces with our state-of-the art machinery at our secure shredding facilities. You’ll receive peace of mind knowing that all serial numbers are recorded along with an official Certificate of Destruction issued when everything is said and done. All shredded fragments are then either safely recycled or are incinerated. So, not only do you now know exactly what’s happening to your data but it has been reduced beyond recognition too!
Conclusion
To conclude, Fixed Asset Disposal Limited is the solution to your company’s data security. We securely destroy any all forms of memory storage devices containing confidential information. This is extremely important considering that hacking has become more prevalent than ever before.
At Fixed Asset Disposal Limited, we have a highly professional team equipped with cutting-edge technology that quickly destroys these items by erasing them. This means that they are unrecoverable even when using sophisticated equipment like electron microscopes or other powerful scanning technologies; (also known as forensic techniques) which would require an expert knowledge level to understand its capabilities for retrieving erased data.
As we’re accredited with ISO 27001:2017 international standard for information security. We’ve taken the extra step of ensuring that all customer data is sanitized responsibly and will full traceability. Unfortunately, our competitors may not be able to provide you with such assurances! Please make sure to ask them for their ISO 27001:2017 certification, if they don’t have this we would suggest coming to us.
