What the uninitiated in the tech world don’t know is that when you drag files to the recycle bin, empty it, reformat your hard drive, and perform an exorcism for good measure, the data can still be recovered. These methods of data “wiping” simply eliminate the signposts that lead you to the data, which is still intact and just waiting to be unearthed by cyber attackers. In 2015 alone, this growing problem exposed the data of over 160 million consumers.
Here’s a fun project for today: diagnose your own vulnerability by utilizing the recovery function of your operating system to find the files that are lurking in the background. This is what black hat cyber attackers are after when they infiltrate your network: data you’ve neglected to properly remove from your system. This data is then used to aid in criminal activities.
Once again, legislation is slow to provide solutions to this issue. Even tougher protection rules like those adopted in Europe recently do little in the way of actually solving the problem.
In your business, it is your responsibility to ensure that all data that has been entrusted to you remains safe. How can you do this when there are probably hundreds of hidden data records on every hard drive that you don’t even know exist?
Moreover, how many of your own sensitive records are stored in “deleted” emails, working files, and even internet histories? All of these records are still there, it’s only that you don’t have the software or the know how to get to them. Someone out there does.
The Solution: Data Bleaching
One of the main concerns our customers have at Filmar is the secure destruction of all data from their hard drives once they have chosen to upgrade their technology. After all, every business keeps some data on their customers in the form of phone numbers, payment methods, and even social security numbers. This is data that customers have entrusted to the business to keep safe.
Some advocates have argued that the only way to truly eliminate data is to physically destroy the hard drives themselves. On its face, the theory is sound. However, the effects of the increased e-waste this would produce would be devastating to the environment. Not to mention, an incredible waste of resources when these items could be securely bleached of all data, and repurposed for use in schools or personal offices.
We’ve developed the software tools and processes to ensure that all sensitive information is completely removed from the hard drives we refurbish and dispose of. We call this process data bleaching, as the software we use is powerful enough to get rid of any leftover “stains” of data that are left behind by the previous user.
In this way, we are able to assure our customers that their sensitive information remains secure throughout the refurbishing and remarketing process. This eliminates excessive e-waste and provides economical technological solutions for schools, businesses, and individuals on a limited budget.
If you’re curious about how you can ensure that your data is securely bleached from your system, contact sales@filmar.com. We’d love to help you out.
