Data removal safeguarding

Computers, smartphones and cameras allow you to keep a huge amount of information at your fingertips, but when an upgrade is due on your device is the information stored disposed of correctly? If best practices in deleting data from devices are not followed, then this data which is stored can be exploited by cybercriminals which are growing in our society every day.

When you are purchasing a new electronic device for a consumer, a big influencing factor is how much storage does the device have to be able to store information and media such as pictures and videos.  The desire to have a lot of storage on a device has prompted the creation of external hard drives and in times of late the use of cloud storage services.

Sensitive data in storage:

The 1998 Data Protection Act makes it a legal requirement for most businesses that deal with sensitive data to be kept backed up and secure. A healthy strong data strategy for an organisation does typically include good encryption and secure technology in place to protect the relevant data. But on the opposite side to this, an organisation must have an suitable solution when this stored data needs to be disposed of.

A key mistake which is made by many organisations is by just reformatting and resetting a hard drive as a sufficient effort to destroy all data. This is not recommended. It would be best advised to destroy the hard drive or to use a certified wiping service.  

Effective methods for removing stored data from your device

When efforts are made to remove stored data from a device correctly through a process of sanitizing. Methods of sanitization vary from device to device, but the correct method must be applied to the relevant device. It is vital that the data being wiped should be backed up to a second location in case essential data is erased unintentionally.

Sanitizing Methods:

• Disk Cleaning Software
• Secure Erase Command
• Smartphone and Tablet Hard Reset
• Digital Cameras, Media Players Memory Card Factory Reset
• Office Equipment Memory Card Factory Reset (Eg Printers)
• Overwrite
• Cipher.exe
• Magnetic Media Degaussers
• Solid-State Destruction
• CD and DVD Destruction

How can you safely dispose of out-of-date electronic devices?

By engaging with a certified waste disposal company via KIG who can help you dispose and recycle your unneeded equipment. The consequences of trying to dispose of devices manually are vast and not to be taken lightly under Government Regulation.