Data erasure, should you care?
So your PC, laptop or server has come to the end of its life and the new one has been ordered, but what will you do with the old equipment? Should you even care?
You may have read horror stories in the news about old computers being bought on eBay which contain sensitive information. These stories get publicised because the information found can include emails, private photographs, even credit card numbers.
You might think your old computer doesn’t contain sensitive information, but would you want someone to access everything you have ever saved onto your hard drive? Even things you didn’t know were stored on it? For a company the information stored on computers is invaluable; the exposure of customer contacts could have catastrophic consequences and could damage an organisations reputation.
Consider the type of data your PC, laptop or server contains and ask yourself if you would mind the world seeing it. Don’t forget that this includes all the websites visited, emails sent and received, office documents, photographs, videos, music and even passwords.
So if you are careful and delete Windows and reinstall from scratch before selling your old equipment, your data is gone, right? Well actually all you have done is make it a little more difficult to access. The data is still there, waiting for someone to recover it.
Deleting your data takes more than just reinstalling, formatting or using other basic tools. To completely erase your computers data takes specialist knowledge and equipment.
You can of course physically smash, crush and destroy your equipment. If carried out correctly, this safeguards any possibility of your data being recovered, but doing it yourself carries many risks; health and safety and safe disposal of the broken parts to name but two.
Securely erasing data from your equipment is possible if carried out professionally. It has many advantages such as being green; recycling is always a good thing. Then there is the peace of mind that comes from knowing your data cannot be recovered, which allows you to sell your old computers or even give them to charity.
If you decide to completely erase your old computers, and I urge that you do, ensure you choose a certified company with good credentials; you should get a certificate detailing your equipment that has been signed off by a suitably qualified person.