http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14875
Today’s blog will revisit data security.
Before we come to the tips on data security lets review some statistics as alarming as they may be.
“99% of problems happen before a disposal vendor touches equipment. No vendor can destroy data if they don’t receive an asset, which is why we strongly encourage clients to destroy data before any move. Better safe than sorry. Of course, disposal vendors should destroy data (again) regardless,” says Kyle Marks, CEO of Retire-IT.
Retire-IT looked at tracking data from 1072 corporate disposal projects encompassing 233 different companies. Here are two shocking figures:
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4 out of 5 projects (81.5%) had at least one missing asset. Contrast that with only 1 out of 8 (11.6%) had a negative variance. The devil is in the details, but nobody looks very closely.
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Only 79% of the serial numbers were able to be matched. This is when they allowed subjective matching. Without subjective matching, only 58% of serial numbers were able to be matched.
Your Options Depend on Requirements
As long as equipment has been handled properly before disposal the next steps fall into place.
Solutions for wiping data are abundant. Some are software solutions and others combine hardware for a large quantity solution.
This will keep data from falling into criminal enterprises.
Now for some interesting and useful tips on wiping your drives.
According to the article’s author from Net Security his favorite data wiping tools for computers is http://dban.org/ “Derik Boot and Nuke.”
Apparently this tool is the best because it support “many types of wiping,” especially the all important 5220.22 M method done with 3 passes.
As for Windows, Vista, and 2008 server, the OS overwrites the contents of each sector after a slow format routine is completed.
And his recommendation is Microsoft ”SDelete” for wiping files on Windows.
“If you’re using OS X there’s the Disk Utility. On Linux, the “wipe”, “srm” or “shred” commands are available to securely sanitize files on most distributions.”
“Printers and copiers – Versions of the documents processed are saved on internal hard drives – consult the manual to find out how to clear the memory. You can also use third-party software to wipe the hard drive.”
“Mobile devices – Check the manual for directions on how to wipe the device’s memory. Do not forget to remove the phone or tablet SIM card.”
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