You’ve seen the signs, “Community Recycling Event,” “Bring Us Your Old Equipment,” or “Computer Recycling.” For a company looking to get rid of their old IT equipment, this sounds like a dream come true, right? Wrong.
Some businesses think that simply bringing their old IT equipment to an event like one of the aforementioned ensures that their old hard drives, papers and storage equipment will be wiped from the face of the Earth, with no trace of them left. However, that is simply not the case. What if someone just picks up an old hard drive and it has your sensitive information on it? Perhaps your clients’ personal records are still contained on a mass storage USB drive that an event volunteer takes home because he can use it to store his old college work. This is how data breaches happen.
When a data breach occurs, it can tarnish a business’ reputation – which is something from which many do not recover. For example, hospitals need to ensure that the people to whom they trust their old IT equipment are well-versed in HIPPA compliant data destruction. Here at Keystone Technology Management, our technology equipment destruction services include the kind of thorough processes needed to ensure there is no trace left behind of anything that can leave businesses and their clients exposed to any kind of threat.
There are many reasons why you should trust your sensitive information to a company like us, i.e. one that specializes in complete hardware and software destruction. Here are a few:
1. Training is necessary for people handling sensitive information. Surely, community organizers’ spearheading green recycling initiatives by encouraging local businesses to recycle their old IT equipment mean well; however, you cannot be sure they have the technical knowhow to properly ensure the equipment they are destroying is done properly. Often, they bring old computers, CD-ROMS, floppies, etc. to recycling plants, where anyone can pick them up and have access to the information contained therein. Hiring a professional eliminates that possibility.
2. Specialists are, in general, much better at what they do than generalists. Think about this: If you need your furniture reupholstered, are you going to take it do a furniture shop that might outsource that work to a contractor, or would you rather just go right to someone who specializes in upholstery? Businesses should think the same way when they search for data destruction services.
3. Systems are key in data destruction. When you take your old computer and laptop bag to a recycler, they’re going to separate them for recycling, and then be done with them. At Keystone Technology Management, we have a chain of custody in place to mine through the equipment we are given, removing anything that puts our clients at risk, and leaving the destruction of that equipment in the hands of a process instead of an individual.
Don’t make the mistake of trusting your sensitive information to anyone who is not a hardware destruction specialist. If you are in need of hard drive shredding services in PA and its surrounding areas, call us here at Keystone Technology Management to find out about what we can do for you.