In this digital age, data is more critical than ever. It drives businesses and organizations forward, allowing them to make smarter decisions and improve their operations. However, if secure data isn’t handled correctly, it can be jeopardized in several ways. That’s why it’s so essential for organizations to invest in proper data destruction methods.
While it may be easy to overlook, data destruction is one of the most important aspects of information security. Still, many organizations fail to properly destroy data before disposing of old IT assets. Improper disposal can be a huge mistake, as data that is not appropriately destroyed can easily fall into the wrong hands. Here’s everything you need to know about data destruction to make smarter decisions about your IT assets and protect your organization.
What Is Data Destruction?
Data destruction involves completely eliminating data from an electronic device or storage medium. It can be done through physical means, such as crushing a hard drive, or through logical means, such as wiping a drive clean with special software. The information must be wholly unrecoverable and unusable to be considered data destruction.
Why Is Data Destruction Important?
Data Breaches
Data destruction is essential for several reasons. First and foremost, it helps to protect organizations against data breaches. Malicious hacking and network attacks are on the rise, and if data is not properly destroyed, it can easily fall into the wrong hands. Breaches can leak sensitive information, damage your organization’s reputation, and put you at risk of legal action.
Regulatory Compliance
Properly destroying data is also significant from a compliance standpoint. Many laws and regulations govern how data must be disposed of, and data destruction is often required to comply with these laws. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires covered entities to take steps to protect patient data from being accessed or used without authorization. It also includes destroying data when it’s no longer needed.
Organizations must also comply with local laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The CCPA requires companies to inform consumers about data usage and comply with their privacy preferences. At the same time, the GDPR regulates data handling for any users residing in the EU – even if your company is based elsewhere.
Types of Data Destruction
There are several types of data destruction methods, each with advantages and disadvantages. Your destruction method will depend on your specific needs and requirements. Here are some of the most common types of data destruction:
- Hard Drive Destruction: Hard drive destruction is one of the most basic methods of destroying data. It involves physically destroying the hard drive so that the information it contains is entirely unreadable. Hard drives can be destroyed with a hammer, drill, or other heavy objects. However, it’s not always as reliable as different methods and is best combined with a complete data wipe.
- Electronic Recycling: Electronic recycling is another effective data destruction method. This method removes all data-bearing components from the device and destroys them in an environmentally-friendly way. The remaining materials are then recycled following industry standards.
- IT Asset Disposition: IT asset disposition, or ITAD, is a destruction method that thoroughly wipes and destroys all data-bearing components of a device before disposing of them safely and securely. ITAD includes data destruction, data sanitization, and data security. The ITAD process, which certified professionals undertake, ensures that the data cannot be accessed or recovered by anyone. ITAD is vital for organizations of all sizes as it covers multiple bases — helping protect data, reduce environmental impact, and maintain compliance with data privacy regulations.
- Data Center Decommissioning: Data center decommissioning is a method that involves destroying all data-bearing components of an entire data center. Data center decommissioning includes servers, storage devices, networking equipment, and more.
Common Mistakes in Data Destruction
One of the most common mistakes in data destruction is not eradicating information completely, which can happen when data is merely deleted from a device instead of being wiped clean. Even if data is erased, it can still be recovered by someone with the right tools and knowledge. That’s why it’s important to ensure data is completely destroyed before getting rid of old devices.
Another common mistake is failing to destroy all data-bearing components of a device. Failing to destroy all data-bearing compounds occurs when only the hard drive is destroyed, but the rest of the device is left intact. It leaves the data vulnerable to recovery, as the other components may still contain information that can be accessed.
How to Properly Destroy Data
There are several steps you can take to ensure data is properly destroyed. First, you need to identify all data-bearing components of the device, including the hard drive, storage media, RAM, and other data-bearing parts. Once you’ve identified all data-bearing components, you need to destroy each one individually. Destruction can be done through physical demolition, electronic recycling, IT asset disposal, or data center decommissioning.
Once all data-bearing components have been destroyed, you need to dispose of them properly so that the data cannot be misused. The best way to do this is to partner with a certified data destruction company like FAMCe, which can support your goals with ITAD solutions.
Destroy Data Safely and Completely with FAMCe
FAMCe is a leading provider of data destruction services, offering a wide range of IT disposal solutions designed to meet our clients’ unique needs in a safe and eco-friendly manner.
We specialize in secure, innovative electronics recycling services for businesses that need to safely dispose of electronic scrap, high-temperature alloys, and non-ferrous scrap. Our level of expertise, unparalleled customer service, and aggressive pricing make FAMCe the leading option for almost any recycling need.
Need your IT assets safely decommissioned? Learn more and get in touch with us at famce.net.
