The Case For Effective Hard Drive Wiping

By Author: Exit Technologies
Total Articles: 2
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Considering selling or recycling your used hard drives for a little extra ROI? If so, consider the importance of wiping your hard drives of all data—and doing so effectively. Before your company or data center thinks twice about unloading hard drives, you’ll want to ensure you’re executing a responsible, informed approach to asset disposition. Why? Hard drive data theft is becoming prevalent in today’s culture of cybercrime. Criminals have identified the wealth of information—and potential for profit—housed in a hard drive that’s been improperly wiped of data before being resold or thrown away.

The Risks of Inadequate Hard Drive Wipes

Countless organizations have suffered the repercussions of a data breach after physical hard drives were stolen right from company premises. The Indiana State Medical facility was one such victim, and the loss of their hard drives compromised the personal information of nearly 40,000 clients. If thieves are willing to physically break and enter to get their hands on hard drives, imagine their delight upon simply purchasing or finding a hard drive with valuable data.

Cybercrime ...
... in general has become an incredibly hot market in the last two to three years. We’ve seen data breaches at some of the nation’s leading companies and institutions—as well as the Federal government—and CNN Money estimates that about half of American adults have had their personal information compromised in some way. The point: hackers understand better than ever the havoc to be caused and the monetary reward to be gained by acquiring data. Whether it occurs through online breaches or physical data extraction, the outcome is the same.

Consider all of the data currently stored on your hard drives. The thought of your figures, price lists, engineering data, and internal memos falling into the wrong hands (such as those of your competitors) should be enough to make you shudder in fear. Companies really can suffer long-term consequences from a data breach. Of even greater concern is the information about your clients and associates that could be compromised as a result of an ineffective hard drive wipe. In short, it’s not just your company that could suffer, but those you do business with; loss of this kind of information will significantly damage your reputation and customer trust.

What Does Effective Hard Drive Wiping Look Like?

So what does effective hard drive wiping actually look like? Though you may be under the impression that effectively preventing stolen data involves a “total destruction” approach, that is not a 100% safeguard, and comes at the cost of eliminating your potential for ROI. Simply erasing files or reformatting a hard drive isn’t a foolproof way to prevent a data breach either. In other words, the “DIY” method of wiping a hard drive is not advisable for any company or data center.

Instead, choose to conduct a complete hard drive wipe with a certified company like Ex-It Technologies, which gives a 100% guarantee that hard drives will be fully wiped of all data before being resold or recycled. We’re an R2 certified company that complies with National Institute for Standards and Technologies guidelines for secure data disposal. Our secure DoD wiping ensures that hard drives are triple-wiped of all data, and that any future individual with ill-intentions has no way of accessing any data (because it’s completely gone). We also afford customers the option of secure disc crushing when reselling is not an option, and ensure secure downstream tracking, transport, and storage.

In short, when your company wants to sell hard drive for cash, only professional wiping from a certified company like Ex-It Technologies can put your mind at ease. For more information, contact us today online or at 239.596.2254.