How To Ensure The Secure Disposal Of Assets

Disposing of IT assets these days is all about robust risk management. With every passing year, the regulations governing data security cover a wider scope, such as dictating the geographic location in which personal data may or may not be stored, as well as defining exactly what constitutes personal data.

Data leakages bring an inevitable reputational cost, not to mention potential statutory penalties that are extremely stringent and punitive at the top end of the range.

What Are The Key Factors That Ensure Successful And Safe Disposal Of Assets?

Like most best practice processes, there is no rocket science involved, merely an understanding and appreciation of both the risks to be mitigated and the legislation that must be complied with.

The critical requirement is that all data be completely sanitised and certified as such, whether the media is destined for reuse or for scrap. Disposal must respect environmental regulations and not simply see the asset end up in landfill in some third world country.

Data Must Be Competently Sanitised And Not Just “Wiped”

Many people are still under the misconception that data can easily be wiped from a medium such as a HDD. That can be a dangerous assumption because there are forensic systems available that can extract useful data from a disk that is wiped clean for all intents and purposes. Professional asset disposal companies guarantee complete data sanitisation.

Why Engaging Professional Services Removed The Risk To Your Organisation

A company such as ours has 15 years’ experience of the secure asset disposal business. We are fully conversant with all the relevant legislation relating both to data security and environmental issues.

For example, we even strive to ensure that 0% of recycled material enters landfill, while the recommended maximum is 16%. What all of this means is that your assets are disposed of with extreme safety/security and the process is fully certified to satisfy any audit.

The Risks Of Using Free Services For IT Asset Disposal

A professional service does have a cost attached, which is negligible in comparison with the price of non-compliance and consequential data leaks. The potential reputational damage alone should guide the decision as to what form the disposal process and policy should take. The temptation to engage a free service should be viewed in the light of the potential risks.

Therefore, any manager contemplating that route should first perform robust due diligence to ensure that the process the service offers does indeed comply with all legislation and will protect the organisation from any comeback. While the vast majority of these services are extremely ethical, it is their process that requires scrutiny.

What Happens When You Engage A Professional Disposal Company?

When we arrive at your premises, we remove the redundant equipment to our secure vehicle. Each asset is immediately entered into our database, being the first step in the chain of custody that will eventually result in full certification for the asset to prove that it was disposed of in a totally compliant manner.

Devices containing data are thoroughly sanitised using state of the art data destruction technology. Media such has disk drives can then optionally be physically destroyed and reduced to 5mm pieces of material. All components of devices destined for scrap are stripped down to their constituent parts (plastic, ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal, glass) and sent for recycling.

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In our efforts to continually improve our service, we have attained a number of accreditations and certifications that underline our professional standards. These include: