Data breaches are becoming the order of the day – and they are getting costlier. In 2020, there were over 3,000 confirmed data breaches, and affected companies collectively spent billions of dollars to fix the breaches.
There are many different ways hackers can breach your organization, mainly through online attacks. But they can also compromise your data by accessing your IT hardware such as hard drives and USB sticks.
This is why wiping data from your devices is just as important as securing your networks. Read on to learn how your company stands to benefit:
Disposing Of Data Storage Devices
From computers to flash drives, hard disks, and memory cards, your organization has lots of IT equipment used to store or process data. You have certainly taken steps to protect the data in these devices, including setting up strong access passwords and ensuring only authorized personnel have access to the devices.
Thumbs up for that, but a time comes when you need to dispose of your IT hardware. Whether your company’s policy is to send the equipment to a recycling plant, resell, or donate, you don’t just do away with them. There are steps you need to take to ensure the equipment doesn’t put your data at risk.
This is where data wiping comes off.
Data wiping isn’t the same thing as deleting data or formatting a disk. It means using specialized software to erase the data and make it permanently inaccessible or unreadable to anyone who might be in possession of the equipment after disposal. Certus OEM erasure is an example of software that does the job effectively.
Regulatory Compliance
Perhaps you’re wondering: what’s the worst that can happen if someone accesses your company data? The answer can range from nothing to regulatory fines, multi-million settlements, and even jail time, depending on the nature of the breached data and the motives of the hacker.
Some companies, such as those that handle personal health data, are legally required to ensure the confidentially of this data. The HIPAA Act, for example, mandates health care facilities to ensure patient data confidentiality – or face hefty fines and possible criminal prosecution.
If your organization has such legal obligations, data wiping becomes an important process. Since you don’t want data in your IT hardware to be accessed by unauthorized persons, wiping it off is critical, especially when doing away with the equipment.
Environmental Protection
There are foul-proof physical methods you can use to securely dispose of your IT equipment. A hard drive shredder, for example, will tear your devices into millions of tiny pieces, rendering them useless and keeping the data out of reach of anyone. You can also incinerate the devices to metal dust.
The only problem? These methods aren’t environmentally friendly.
This isn’t what any eco-conscious organization wants to do, especially when there is data wiping, which is a clean data destruction solution.
Wiping Data from IT Equipment Is a Smart Move
Wiping data from your organization’s hard drives might not seem like a secure option, but it is. In fact, it’s not only secure but also helps protect our environment and by extension, the reputation of your organization.
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