Data Destruction
Data destruction refers to the process of removing data from systems. When data is destroyed, information retrieval by nefarious persons and/or threat actors cannot occur. However, deleting data is not necessarily the same as destroying data.
Data destruction methodologies, from physical shredders to data destruction software, remain critical in fully destroying or overwriting materials that include sensitive data. Ultimately, data must be irretrievable in order for it to be considered “destroyed”.
Why does data destruction matter?
Data destruction is important for organizations, as it prevents data from being used for nefarious purposes. Properly disposing of no-longer-needed data can reduce your cyber risk. Cyber criminals often attempt to capture data. In the event that they can interface with your systems, the less data available, the better. Ensure that your retired IT data does not put your enterprise at-risk. Improved chain-of-custody processes can yield better business outcomes in the long-run.
Nonetheless, many enterprises remain behind the times when it comes to data destruction. Organizations need to first identify data that needs destruction, the types of devices on which it is located and must then determine total costs of data destruction. Further, organizations should think about compliance and needs around documentation for regulators. In some instances, video evidence of complete data destruction can be requested in order to ensure that compliance requirements are adhered to.
Lastly, for organizations with massive quantities of data, but that remain unsure of where to start, some data destruction firms offer IT audit services, where data destruction firm representatives survey private inventories, provide reports and recommend data destruction options.
What Are The Different Forms of Data Destruction?
- Delete/Reformat
- Wipe
- Overwriting data
- Erasure
- Degaussing
- Physical destruction (drill/band/crush/hammer)
- Electronic shredding
- Solid state shredding