Did you know that over 40 percent of companies suffer a data breach each year? There are many different ways in which data theft occurs.
However, one area that companies often overlook is proper data disposal. Effective data security requires both digital and physical destruction of media.
There are several data disposal systems on the market to maintain security. Read on to learn how to select the right data disposal system for your company.
Shredding Is One Effective Data Disposal Method
Employees and business partners transport data in several different ways. The most common forms of physical data transfer are USB drives, solid state drives, and mobile phones.
The days of cracking DVDs in half or taking a hammer to a mobile phone are over. Instead, companies can use shredders that efficiently destroy portable media.
Conceptually, these systems operate like an old-fashioned paper shredded. The portable media is inserted into the system and shred in clear sight to the user.
There are larger systems that are capable of shredding hard drives as well. These units feature a conveyor belt to handle industrial-level data disposal.
Mechanical Destroyers
Shredders require electricity to destroy portable media. In the event of a power outage, there are mechanical alternatives.
Destroyers are an effective method to dispose of hard drives. Users simply insert the hard drive into a slot, pull down a handle, and crush it.
The remnants of the hard drive are ejected so that users can verify its destruction. Both the motor and circuit board are totally destroyed which prevents it from being reconstructed and used again.
Degaussers Are Another Important Part of the Process
Thus far, we have covered a few methods to physically destroy media. However, there is an intermediate step to erase the data first.
This method is called degaussing. In practice, a degausser uses a powerful magnet to disrupt the storage unit and erase the data.
The process is fast and simple. For desktop units, the hard drive is inserted into a slot and the degaussing process takes a few seconds. There are also wands that allow for handheld degaussing.
NSA and DoD Requirements
The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have stringent data disposal requirements. These agencies maintain top secret information and require complete erasure and destruction of this data.
How do these data disposal systems fit into NSA and DoD requirements? For starters, media must be degaussed to erase the data contained within.
After a successful degaussing, the media is then destroyed using a shredder or hard drive destroyer. The reason for the two-step process is to prevent bad actors from an attempted recovery.
Wrapping It Up
In the digital age, data security is a top priority for companies that maintain confidential information. The good news is that technology has been developed to effectively dispose of portable media.
Companies should implement a process in which media is degaussed. Next, the media should be inserted into a shredder or destroyer to physically eliminate it. If you are interested in data disposal methods, please contact us for assistance.
