Today an average company's data footprint is not only limited to local hard
drives and tapes, but also mobile devices, memory cards and even virtual
environments provided though the cloud computing. Every single byte of that
data needs to be protected and managed securely not only in storage and
transit, but also at the end of its life cycle.
Everyone must recognize the importance of erasing data. For example, if you're selling your smart phone on an online buying site, chances are you may want to make sure that the buyer can't dig up your old photographs and text messages, regardless of intent. Equally, most firms have legal obligations to destroy any sensitive information they're no longer using. But, some consumers and businesses show a surprising degree of disregard in this respect.
Not taking cautions to permanently erase data can lead to devastation. In this era of increasingly smart, interconnected technology, every bit of electronic information exists in physical form, no matter what it looks like on screen, there's a hard drive platter or memory chip somewhere that's ready for the taking.
Businesses and privacy-conscious consumers need to keep an eye on data assets that have come to the end (of their life-cycle), and then destroy them at their source. This may not sound like too complex; even someone with fundamental knowledge of technology might be familiar, with concepts like a disk format or factory reset. Failing that, it might still occur to them to toss an old laptop into a skip rather than risk its unauthorized reuse.
Regrettably, secure data destruction isn't actually that simple. None of the above methods ensure that the information stored on those devices won't be recoverable; in fact, it might take little more than a few minutes with a free software package to retrieve it. The common assumption is that this sponges the medium absolute, but that's not really true; most of the time, a format leaves almost all of the data intact. Its purpose is to strip out the existing file system only; not to secure and permanently erase any information. The OS (Operating System) might not be able to read it as normal, but it's still there.
A quick format is like throwing away the catalog of an enormous library. Without the catalogue it might be difficult to search the library, but the books are very much still in existence. Any freeware can be used to recover the data from such medium, regardless of what technical knowledge someone possesses.
In the case of mobile device the process might seem different, like carrying out a factory reset on a smartphone or other device with flash memory, but these methods are identical to a conventional disk format. The contents of the microchip remain right where they are, invisible to the operating system, but recoverable nonetheless. This was demonstrated in study from Avast, in 2014. The company bought 20 second-hand, factory reset Android phones from eBay and, using off-the-shelf recovery software, retrieved as astonishing amount of private data: 40,000 photos, 750 emails and text messages, and 250 contact names and addresses.
Destroying the hardware is no guarantee that the data contained therein will be unrecoverable. Even if it comes across as a last-minute, fail-safe method, even taking a hammer to hard drives won't work. There's a need, for reasons of legality as well as privacy and security, for even safer methods for the destruction of end-of-life data.
All Goods Electronics (AGE) Recycling
Scotts Valley, CA 9506
Everyone must recognize the importance of erasing data. For example, if you're selling your smart phone on an online buying site, chances are you may want to make sure that the buyer can't dig up your old photographs and text messages, regardless of intent. Equally, most firms have legal obligations to destroy any sensitive information they're no longer using. But, some consumers and businesses show a surprising degree of disregard in this respect.
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| Secure Data Destruction At AGE (All Goods Electronics) Recycling |
Not taking cautions to permanently erase data can lead to devastation. In this era of increasingly smart, interconnected technology, every bit of electronic information exists in physical form, no matter what it looks like on screen, there's a hard drive platter or memory chip somewhere that's ready for the taking.
Businesses and privacy-conscious consumers need to keep an eye on data assets that have come to the end (of their life-cycle), and then destroy them at their source. This may not sound like too complex; even someone with fundamental knowledge of technology might be familiar, with concepts like a disk format or factory reset. Failing that, it might still occur to them to toss an old laptop into a skip rather than risk its unauthorized reuse.
Regrettably, secure data destruction isn't actually that simple. None of the above methods ensure that the information stored on those devices won't be recoverable; in fact, it might take little more than a few minutes with a free software package to retrieve it. The common assumption is that this sponges the medium absolute, but that's not really true; most of the time, a format leaves almost all of the data intact. Its purpose is to strip out the existing file system only; not to secure and permanently erase any information. The OS (Operating System) might not be able to read it as normal, but it's still there.
A quick format is like throwing away the catalog of an enormous library. Without the catalogue it might be difficult to search the library, but the books are very much still in existence. Any freeware can be used to recover the data from such medium, regardless of what technical knowledge someone possesses.
In the case of mobile device the process might seem different, like carrying out a factory reset on a smartphone or other device with flash memory, but these methods are identical to a conventional disk format. The contents of the microchip remain right where they are, invisible to the operating system, but recoverable nonetheless. This was demonstrated in study from Avast, in 2014. The company bought 20 second-hand, factory reset Android phones from eBay and, using off-the-shelf recovery software, retrieved as astonishing amount of private data: 40,000 photos, 750 emails and text messages, and 250 contact names and addresses.
Destroying the hardware is no guarantee that the data contained therein will be unrecoverable. Even if it comes across as a last-minute, fail-safe method, even taking a hammer to hard drives won't work. There's a need, for reasons of legality as well as privacy and security, for even safer methods for the destruction of end-of-life data.
All Goods Electronics (AGE) Recycling
Scotts Valley, CA 9506
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