What Does It Mean By Secure IT Disposals?

Most businesses and organizations know how unwise it is to throw away their IT assets. Many tend not to do so without making sure all the data is removed from them. But how can you be sure you’ve done this?

Sadly, the majority of computer owners have a limited understanding of how to make sure their computers. Other electronic devices are completely free of the sort of company or personal data. This can be deeply harmful should it be seized by cybercriminals.

You can find basic guidance on how to wipe a computer online. But an expert will still be able to recover much of it, often with malicious intent. Computers, after all, are not designed to lose the data they hold easily; they keep it stored away so that it can be regenerated in case of an accident.

The need for more thorough treatment leads to the promotion of “secure” IT disposals offered by approved, specialist companies. But what do they do that takes security a step further than the average IT novice can manage?

Secure premises

The first step to achieving completely secure IT disposals is to conduct them in a suitable place. Leading disposal companies will have premises approved by groups like the Ministry of Defence. These groups include CCTV and perimeter fencing to ensure no unauthorised access. Only by doing this can they make certain that IT assets to be disposed off don’t fall into the wrong hands.

Security during transportation

Security cannot be compromised during any stage of the disposal. This includes getting it from its previous home to the secure premises.

Vehicles used to transport IT assets en route to disposal should be sturdy and monitored by GPS technology. Their drivers should be fully trained in how to handle items and should follow a logistics process. This process should be approved by an organisation like the Asset Disposal and Information Security Alliance (ADISA).

Data sanitisation

The process of removing data when performing secure IT disposals is not referred to as ‘wiping’ or ‘deleting’, but ‘sanitising’. It’s a term we’re more used to hearing when applied to hygiene and health. In data treatment it means much the same thing – getting data to a point where it carries no threat and no trace of it can be restored.

For this to be done comprehensively, the process of overwriting data needs to be one approved by a data removal specialist like Blancco. When hard drives and other electronic devices need to be physically destroyed, a secure IT disposal company will ensure ADISO-approved methods are followed. This means items are shredded or otherwise destroyed in a way that considers both cybersecurity and environmental concerns.

It’s for these reasons that IT disposals must be conducted in ways that bear data security and the environment in mind. The only certain way to achieve this is through a secure IT disposal company. A recent study shows that 11% of discarded hard drives contained corporate data, and cybercrime being the fastest-growing form of fraud in the UK. The need to take responsible disposal seriously has never been more pressing.