Why you shouldn’t let old computers become a problem
You have upgraded to a new computer, and you’re looking forward to faster response, new programs, and more storage space. That’s great but don’t forget about your old computer. Your old computer can contain sensitive information such as documents, transactions, internet searches and a whole host of private information. It will still be there on the hard drive. Hence data destruction is very essential to avoid identity theft.
There’s only one way to destroy information from your old computer. You need to destroy the platter which is a magnetic disk that stores all the information. Physical destruction is the only safe way to stop identity thieves from stealing data.
Deleting files or Reformatting is Not Protection
Many company’s data destruction plans often overlook the protection of sensitive electronic data. Many companies are beginning to rely on software to delete their data. But, the software comes with limitations. Did you know that when you hit the delete button to remove files from your computer, they can remain on your hard drive? Deleted files can be recovered with little effort. All you have to do is restore the links to the deleted files. To eliminate the data for good, you need to destroy the hard drive.
Why You Need to Destroy Your Old Hard Drives
Data is expected to be even more significant as the years go by. You can imagine that managing the security of these devices as well as the data stored on them is the critical challenge in the data privacy department. A large number of individuals are selling, exchanging, returning, recycling their devices without a clue as to where and what information are accessible, therefore posing a threat to their privacy.
Stellar Data Recovery held a lab investigation of second-hand devices to see what kind of “residual data” was left on these devices and poses a threat to hacking or identity theft. Residual data is any data that has been forgotten and unintentionally left behind on a digital device even after you’ve already disposed of the equipment. The results showed that 7 out of 10 used devices contained residual data. . This means that the owners are vulnerable to data leakages and privacy threats.
The three types of devices contained a large variety of sensitive information. It found out that:
- Hard Drives: 46% of the total hard drives contained personal videos, photos, ID’s, income tax records, banking details, login credentials, and driver’s licenses, etc.
- Cellphones: 60% of mobile phones contained old contacts, call recordings, photos, and baking information
- Memory cards: 98% of memory cards contained visa information, passport copies, and personal photos.
This study found that there is a general lack of awareness about residual data and about the right steps towards getting rid of the data before getting rid of the actual device. A breach of residual data poses a large amount of risk to organizations as well as the individuals themselves.
Why you should hire a Professional
This is not a simple or cute DIY. Hammering your hard drive into pieces cannot protect your data. Hire a professional hard drive destruction service that has the right equipment to destroy your hard drive physically.
- A 100% guaranteed way to destroy your data
Recovering data from hard drives is easy. The right tools can easily recover these. In addition, removing files manually leaves room for user error.The vulnerabilities of wiping a hard drive are two-fold. First, software used in cleaning the information can have limitations on its effectiveness. Second, you can not verify or validate completion of a process.
- A hard drive can fit millions of pages of documents
One estimation puts the capacity of a one terabyte hard drive at 100 million double-sided pages in Word Document format. Assuming 0.16 ounces per page, that comes out to 1 million pounds of paper! We’re willing to bet that you wouldn’t let 100 million pages of documents get into the hands of a stranger. If you intend to donate or recycle a computer, ensure that the hard drive is first removed and properly disposed of.
- Hassle-free and convenient for you
Patriot Shredding’s data destruction, hard drive shredding service is the perfect solution for your business, data center, or organization of any size. Our shredding service destroys your obsolete hard drives right onsite while you watch. Our state of the art hard drives can shred more than the average rate of competing companies.
