Better Electronic Information Disposal Recommendations on Their Way in Kansas
A computer containing thousands of Social Security Numbers was found among a number of computers slated to be disposed of by the State of Kansas. This would have been a major violation of State and Federal Law. The discovery revealed the state needed to do a better job destroying the information before the computers are disposed of. That destruction can come in one of a couple ways. There are disk drive destruction companies who will come to your place of operation and physically destroy the disk drive platter so it can never be read again. Then the scrap is recycled. Another way to destroy the information is through sophisticated software programs that wipe out all the data on the disk drive. Simply “deleting” files does not work in that “deleted” files can quickly and easily be “restored” to the original file.
The article reports that the review found 7 of 15 machines inspected contained information considered confidential under state and federal laws.
> About Association
Shredding Services..
> Large Volume Shredding> Route Shredding
> Shred Drop Off Locations
Document Management Services..
> Record Storage Companies> Document Scanning Companies
Other Links..
> Conditions for the Use of this Site> Register Your Disk Drive
Destruction Business
Articles..
> Disposed Computers HeldConfidential Information
> ID Theft Affects Millions
> How the Data is Stolen
Improper Disposal of Hard Disk Drives in the News
Study Finds Many Discarded Hard Drives Still Contain Confidential Data
MAY 8, 2009 as reported in the SDB Magazine newsletter(see link below to see newsletter).
A recent study, sponsored by BT and Sims Lifecycle Services, finds that more than one third of discarded hard drives still contain confidential data. The study was carried out by forensic computer science labs at Longwood University, located in the United States; the University of Glamorgan, Wales; and Edith Cowan University, Australia.
The study also finds that some of the data uncovered during the research involved national security, including a disk that contained information on missile defense systems, as well as blueprints and personal information on employees; information on network data and security logs from a German Embassy; banking account information, as well as details of a multi-billion dollar currency exchange; and medical information on a number of hospitals