Confidential information on hard drives has become a hot target for identity theft. When organizations like schools, municipalities, or private business upgrade their computers, they often remove the hard drives or use software to erase the data. Then send them to computer recyclers thinking they are safe and compliant.

Although you may think the programs erase the data, some just delete the directories on the drive and the actual data remains. This can lead to a false sense of security and exposing your company to many liabilities due to non-compliance with federal and state information disposal laws, not to mention leaving your confidential info still able to be accessed. By using readily available software, the information can be restored, giving access to confidential information believed to be removed or destroyed. This leaves organizations vulnerable. Have you ever seen CSI TV or ever wondered how law enforcement can tell if data has been erased? It’s called forensic analysis software and it is available to just about anyone having a little resourcefulness and resolve that wants to try to steal your data.

Erasing your hard drive doesn’t mean the data’s gone. On-site Hard Drive destruction is proven to be the only 100% secure way to destroy data from hard drives permanently and doing it onsite means you know it was done before it left your custody. This means physically shredding the hard drive into little pieces in front of you or your assigned employee and properly recycling remnant particles in a compliant manner. And if you use a “Certified” National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) AAA company, you will also receive an assurance that each hard was destroyed according to the highest industry standards and they will provide you with a manifest record of each hard drives scanned serial number as proof your hard was physically destroyed to these standard’s, therefore completing the chain of custody and your liability.

Proshred® Security of Houston has a state-of-the-art onsite hard drive shredding truck specifically designed with security in mind to shred your obsolete hard drives at your place of business or home, reassuring you no data can ever be reconstructed or retrieved. Call us at 832-947-5700 or visit us atwww.proshred.com/Houston for more information or schedule your appointment.

 

Brock Bruce