Whether you are upgrading to new devices or simply cleaning up storage facilities, don’t just discard your old computers, laptops, DVDs, drives or other electronic junk in garbage or recycle. Without proper disposal processes, you may be risking the reputation of your business and could end up becoming a victim of corporate fraud or identity theft. Unfortunately, we live in times where minor negligence in safeguarding our personal information or business data would mean paying a hefty price. 

At Crown Information Management, we specialize in preserving, protecting and securely destroying paper records as well as digital media. While destruction of paper records may be relatively simpler, hard drive destruction comes with its own set of challenges. Read on to know more about potential threats and practical solutions for secure hard drive destruction. 

Why Should You Shred Hard Drives and Digital Storage Devices?

Reformatting Hard Drives before Discarding them is Not Enough –While reformatting your drives before getting rid of them may seem like a fail-safe measure to protect your business or personal data, in reality, that is not true. Hackers and petty criminals continue to find newer methods to recover data from encrypted, erased or reformatted drives. In fact, a growing number of data breaches take place after you dump or resell your devices. In a recent study, Blancco Technology Group purchased over 200 hard drives from sites selling used items, such as e-Bay and Craigslist. What they found was:

• 67% of the drives were improperly wiped and contained restorable information, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as names, addresses and social security numbers. 
• 11% of the drives contained recoverable corporate information, including sensitive company emails, customer interaction records and management spreadsheets with confidential business data.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Destruction Processes are Not Safe – While a DIY approach may be useful and economical in several household or office chores, using it for disposal of hard drives is not recommended.

• Failure to wipe out all the data from the hard drives or other digital storage devices would mean you are putting yourself and your business at risk of data breaches and theft. 
• Electronic devices comprise of materials that require specialized destruction processes. If you are not careful about the disposal techniques, you risk exposure to hazardous chemicals that may be harmful for your health and the environment.

Tips to Securely Destroy Hard Drives – Proper disposal of hard drives, DVDs, CDs, or thumb drives essentially involves partnering with a trusted specialist who can provide comprehensive and secure destruction services. This includes:

• Safe storage of the devices at your location
• Systematic controls during pick-up and transportation to the shredding site
• Proof of destruction that is acceptable for future audits or legal queries

Protect Your Personal and Business Information through Secure Hard Drive Destruction Services 

For hard drive and media destruction requirements in and around central Florida, count on a SOC1 Level 2 Report, NAID AAA and PCI Certified company, such as Crown Information Management. We follow a meticulous approach to safely destroy hard drives and digital storage media. 

This includes: 

• Locked storage containers to ensure an unbroken chain of custody before we pick up the drives from your location.
• Proper monitoring during transportation of the materials to our shredding site.
• Secure facilities with sophisticated alarms and video surveillance at the time of shredding.
• Drug screenings and detailed reference checks for staff that handles the destruction process.
• A ‘Certificate of Destruction’ that includes the serial number of each shredded drive. This is a valid and legally acceptable document to certify that your device has been destroyed, and any residual data on it is completely irretrievable. 

To learn more about our hard drive and media destruction services, call Crown Information Management at 800-979-9545 or contact us online for a free estimate.