As the professional world becomes more virtual every day, more sensitive information than ever is housed on hard drives. Businesses updating their computers must dispose of hard drives properly or the data could be used for illegal identity theft purposes. Even cell phone hard drives can be used inappropriately. Hard drive shredding is a clever way to secure any information, but there are several occurrences that shouldn’t happen during this destroying process.
Employees Accessing Data
There’s no need for mobile shredding companies to access data on hard drives. If any company insists on turning the hard drives on, businesses should look for other professionals to use. Even if a hard drive is erased, data is still available for a quick download when shredding employees are questionable. Reputable shredders simply take the drives as inanimate objects and destroy them as-is.
Hard Drive Shredding Off-Site
Some shredding companies may advertise a free pickup to take items to a centralized facility. Although this was a standard operational process in the past, mobile shredding companies now come to customers and complete the work on-site. Shredders who take the drives intact and away from the business could hack into the components and extract sensitive information. It’s best to have all shredding completed at the customer’s site to avoid any improper data handling.
Large Pieces Still Visible
When mobile shredders move the hard drives through a machine, tiny pieces should result. When customers see hard drive sections still completely intact, there’s an issue with the shredding process. Even a hard drive section can be accessed by expert hackers, creating identity theft in minutes. If shredders do have large pieces leftover, they should place them back in the machine to complete the destroying process. Only tiny pieces should be the final result of a hard drive shred procedure.
Separating Drives
Along with tiny hard drive pieces, companies shouldn’t see shredders separating the components individually. All hard drive pieces can empty into a common container, allowing all the pieces to mix. This process reduces possible theft from piecing the items back together.
Mobile shredding companies all use slightly different tools to destroy hard drive components. If a business is looking to partner with a particular shredding company, they should meet and discuss service details before agreeing to a contract. Business owners should see the hard drive shredding process in person to make an educated decision on a quality company.
