Not all technology lasts forever. So, when it comes time for your business to part ways with its current computers, you’ll want to make sure that all essential data is completely “wiped” from your hard drives.
Let’s take a look at why destroying data is so important and the top 3 most effective ways to get rid of a hard drive for good.
When Should You Wipe Your Hard Drive?
Any time your organization moves on to new computer equipment it’s a sign that it’s time to wipe your hard drives. It’s likely that your organization is going to recycle old electronics. So, make sure that your data remains secure and that you destroy your hard drives in the most effective way possible.
3 Effective Ways to Permanently “Wipe” Your Hard Drive
Although some people may believe that smashing or drilling a hard drive is an effective way to steer clear of data theft, data destruction experts would say otherwise.
Here are 3 of the most efficient ways to permanently restrict access to old and important data. Keep in mind that each of these methods can be dangerous and should always be performed by a data destruction specialist.
Shredding
Shredding a hard drive is the approach that we like to take at RetirePC. This method runs a hard drive through a physical shredder that literally cuts up the equipment and renders it untraceable.
Not only are shredders expensive pieces of industrial equipment, but they can also release dangerous toxins into the environment when operated incorrectly.
Only a professional data destruction team like RetirePC can shred a hard drive without negatively impacting the local environment. Our shredder can shred 1,000 server hard drives per hour. So, we guarantee fast, efficient work that leaves little to no stressful wait times.
Data Wiping
Wiping the data by overwriting the hard drives with 1s and 0s a minimum of three times is also an effective way that RetirePC permanently clears off a hard drive.
As an R2 certified recycling company, we follow the NIST guidelines for this procedure. We do a 100% verification by looking that the hexadecimal info. A lot of recyclers will use a software-based product and boot up their customer’s device with the hard drive in it. At RetirePC we remove the hard drive and wipe it using a third-party appliance. It’s an extra level of security we believe sets us apart from others.
Degaussing
Degaussing is essentially using an extremely strong magnet to scramble a hard drive’s platter. Once this is done, the hard drive remains intact but is no longer usable or traceable by any means.
Degaussing machines are extremely expensive pieces of equipment and wouldn’t be a wise investment for a company that only switches out its computer equipment every decade or so.
Save some money in your budget and trust a local data destruction team to handle any large-machinery methods like degaussing instead of investing in something you’ll only use once or twice in your brand’s lifetime.
Trust RetirePC to Keep Your Data Secure After You Retire Your Hard Drives
If your business has data that needs destroying, trust the professionals of RetirePC to keep your organization’s secrets secure. We practice the most reliable forms of data destruction and guarantee that any hard drive you donate, sell, or recycle with us is completely shredded and inaccessible to prying data thieves. On top of our reliability, we are audited annually on our data sanitization process and we receive high marks from our auditor.
Contact us today to learn more about our data destruction processes and how RetirePC can help you move on from your old electronics in peace.