Misconceptions About Hard Drive Destruction

If you have a hard drive you no longer need, you probably have questions about how to dispose of it securely. The data stored on it may include personal and financial information about your company, staff, and customers. Clearing the information isn’t as thorough as many would like to think it is. A knowledgeable data thief can still recover information from a hard drive that has been erased. The truth is, even when we try to wipe information from a hard drive, it isn’t ever completely gone. Properly destroying old hard drives with a secure shredding company who has the equipment necessary to do so is the best way to ensure your information is really unretrievable.

So-Called Destruction Methods Don’t Live Up

When you look into other methods for hard drive destruction, you’ll find that they may not live up to their claims. Nothing compares to the reliability of physically destroying your hard drives. A few of the methods that have been debunked include:

• Using Magnets

Magnets can scramble data, but the kind of magnet needed to erase a hard drive would have to be much stronger than the magnets most of us have access to. Simply using a normal magnet will not erase your data.

• Putting the Drive in Water

Hard drives are well sealed, so water may have little effect. In some cases, submerging a hard drive in water will make it non-functional, so it may appear to be destroyed, but the actual information is still there and recoverable with the right know-how.

• Reformatting or Overwriting

Hackers have made a career out of stealing personal information and can retrieve data you think is long gone from reformatting or overwriting.

• Using Software to Erase the Data

Deleting your files doesn’t get rid of them. Even the best programs can’t completely remove all the data off your hard drive.

What are the Consequences of Failed Hard Drive Destruction?

If a data thief is looking for information to steal, they’ve likely done their research and understand how hard drive destruction works – and more importantly, they understand that most people don’t know how to completely destroy them. Data thieves are smart and they know what kind of information could be stored on a hard drive. They are well versed in how to recover it, even if the drive looks clean or overwritten.

What Can You Do to Ensure Your Data is Destroyed?

Many people don’t know that hard drives can be shredded, but physical hard drive destruction is the only way to ensure that your company’s information is completely destroyed and the information that was once on it can not be obtained by anyone.

It is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your personal data and company information. Having sensitive data compromised can cost your business greatly. Outsourcing your hard drive destruction to a shredding company with the right destruction capabilities is the best way to ensure there is no risk of data theft from disposing of your company’s old hard drives. If you are upgrading your office equipment, or you have old computers and hard drives stored somewhere in your building, it’s important to explore your options and get rid of the equipment and data you no longer need. To learn more about how we can help you securely dispose of old computer equipment, contact AccuShred for a quote today.