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The threat of identity fraud is more pressing than ever. Seemingly every week, news stories appear detailing another attack on an individual or business whose identity has been used to commit fraud. Safe disposal of electronic information is, therefore, crucial to help minimize the risk of this happening. As more and more people become reliant on technology in their home and working lives, the amount of data being stored on PCs and laptops has grown enormously. When these computers pass onto to other owners or are replaced at the end of their useful lifetime, the data contained within could be used by all manner of criminals to help endanger your privacy.
The software options available to ‘wipe’ a hard drive are not always secure. Some programs are successful in erasing all the confidential information on the disc, but others only remove the file directories – the information remains untouched. Other software is available which can then restore the registers and access this private data, making the personal documents or company transactions visible once more. In most cases, those that would use such software to restore information are not doing so for legitimate reasons.
Data destruction services physically destroy the hard drive, making it unreadable. This is the only secure way of permanently preventing the information being retrieved and used criminally. A hard drive contains a platter or disc inside the casing, on which the data is written. Using an industrial drill process to shatter and corrupt this platter prevents any other device being able to ‘read’ the disc and obtain its contents. Although many people attempt to do this at home, for the utmost security, it is imperative to use a professional service and perhaps hire a data destruction firm in Orange County.
In recycling, the iron-based metals and the non-ferrous components are removed, before copper elements, printed circuit boards and plastic parts are also excluded. In many instances, these can be reused in new devices. Using a full data destruction service offers the peace of mind that it is impossible for the data to be recovered and to fall into the wrong hands. Data protection legislation states that all personal information must be securely disposed of at such a time when it is no longer required. Although destroying hard drives at home might sometimes work, using a company offering this service will create a paper trail which protects the company from claims of malpractice: should there be an audit, for example, being able to provide the dates and details of using data destruction companies would be very beneficial.
