How to Securely Dispose of Company Data

Featured article by Emily Roberts, Independent Technology Author

Disposing of company data is something that has to happen for several reasons, for example, when hardware hits the end of its lifespan and needs to be replaced. Another reason for data disposal is if a company is trying to merge and condense their data into easier manageable solutions. There are many reasons why it needs to happen but, most importantly, when it does need to happen, it needs to happen with security in mind.

If data falls into the wrong hands, criminals could easily use the personal and financial information to commit identity fraud. Therefore, whether you run a small or large business, it’s important that you dispose of any data securely. Here are a few ways of doing that.

Shred That Paperwork

It’s not just online or computer data that needs to be disposed of; it’s also paperwork that contains personal information. Granted, pen and paper isn’t a method that’s used as much these days, but it’s still around. And, until it does eventually disappear, you’ll need to ensure paperwork is shredded to make it hard for criminals to dig their teeth into the information they crave.

Data Destruction

Professional services can offer data destruction services, which can kill data by physically interrupting the device the data is on. Usually, they’ll use professional machines to undertake this process, so there’s no going back on data that is then deemed to be non-existent.

Purge-Level Sanitization

By taking advantage of purge-level sanitization, you’ll be able to purge loads of data quickly and quietly. The benefit of using such services from professional IT asset disposal businesses is that it can purge data and eliminate all data from all regions of a media surface. Anything from internal and external HDDs can be purged with ease, regardless of how much data you are dealing with. Another huge benefit of killing data this way is that you’ll be able to use the hardware again to secure other data in the future.

Kill the Hardware

This step is much like data destruction, except it’s in your hands to ensure the hardware and its data is no longer accessible. This can be done by killing the hardware physically. This doesn’t mean throwing it on the floor and hoping for the best, this means using the necessary tools to ensure the hardware is not only in a non-working state but also in a state that prevents I.T. laboratories and discovery services seeing what data is on it. Although it’s not recommended, you could potentially kill the hardware by cutting it into smaller pieces, and then burning it until there’s nothing but ash left.

With more and more regulations coming into play as far as disposing of company data is concerned, it’s becoming more important to get the job done professionally. However, by following the above methods for different types of data, they will suffice, and they are the most secure ways of clearing data from the face of this earth.