How to Safely Dispose of Hard Drives in UK & Ireland
Millions of hard drives are discarded annually in UK & Ireland, often leaving sensitive data at risk of breach, raising a critical question among companies: How to dispose of hard drives safely and securely?
Why Hard Drive Destruction is key for Data Security
The 2018 GDPR rollout compelled European businesses to rethink their data practices, including handling, storage, and disposal, or risk fines up to £17.5 million or €20 million for a data breach.
Beyond financial penalties, companies face additional repercussions from a data breach, such as public backlash, plummeting stock values, loss of trade secrets, and in certain cases, potentially endangering lives.
Most companies have hundreds of computers, with hundreds of hard drives, before even counting the multiple used in servers, so they must ensure they have a secure process in place to ensure no sensitive data ends up leaked.
Data on hard drives is stored on magnetic disks, known as platters. These platters, coated with a magnetic material, store data in binary form (ones and zeroes).
Due to this intricate structure, simply deleting files doesn’t erase the data. It remains on the platters until overwritten, meaning even if you crack the platter into several pieces, it is still possible to retrieve data from these large pieces. This persistence of data makes complete physical destruction essential.
But what destruction method is the most effective and can guarantee that all the data has been safely destroyed?
Methods of Hard Drive Destruction
As we have learned, simply deleting files or physically breaking hard drives isn’t enough to guarantee data security.
Even when a hard drive is physically damaged or broken into pieces, as long as the magnetic coating on the platters where the data is stored remains intact and readable, data retrieval is still possible.
In this section, we’ll explore various methods of hard drive destruction, assessing their effectiveness in permanently eliminating data risks, protecting sensitive information and complying with GDPR.
Hard Drive Crushing
What is it?
Some companies invest in a specialised Hard Drive Crusher, that essentially bends the HDD in such a manner that the internal platter disks into pieces.
Pro:
- Relatively cheap to perform inhouse
- Several variations of crushing machine available
Con:
- Sizes of disk fragment cannot be guaranteed, and large enough sections of disk could still yield sensitive data.
Hard Drive Degaussing
What is it?
Hard drive degaussing uses strong magnetic fields to erase data on magnetic media such as HDDs, by disrupting their magnetic memory, rendering the data unrecoverable.
Pro:
- No Debris or physical waste
- Enables whole recycling of component pieces
- Can be done in house
Con:
- Without physical destruction, you may wish to load the drive to ensure data is gone for peace of mind
- Cannot erase SSD drives
- Could potentially leave some data on certain hard drive types
- Degaussing machines can be expensive
- The strength of the magnetic field required to successfully scramble each device is unknown
Hard Drive Wiping
What is it?
Companies are able to erase data from hard drives by using specialist software to overwrite existing information with new data.
Pro:
- Allows for the reuse of the hard drive, or resale to generate a revenue return for the customer
- Multiple different device types can be wiped
- Environmentally friendly, reducing ewaste, no recycling or landfill
Con:
- Not all wiping software is equal, Vyta uses Blancco drive eraser, the world leading software to ensure all data is destroyed
- Time intensive without the correct setup for wiping multiple devices
- Expensive wiping software licenses
Hard Drive Shredding
What is it?
Hard Drive Shredding involves the drives being placed into an industrial shredder, reducing the device into tiny fragments.
Pro:
- Inherently data secure, provides peace of mind at a glance that the debris contains no data
- The fastest method for destroying multiple devices
Con:
- Some shredders may not shred finely enough, companies should look for 20mm, if not 6mm shredded debris size for complete data security.
- Requires a specialist and certified shredding partner, such as DiskShred.
What is the Best Hard Drive Destruction Solution?
When deciding on the best method for hard drive destruction, there are several options available. However, for complete and assured destruction of data, hard drive shredding is often the top choice.
This method is not only swift, efficient, and secure but is also recognised under GDPR guidelines as a safe way to destroy data. Unlike hard drive crushing and degaussing, shredding leaves no chance for data-bearing media fragments to be large enough for data retrieval. It guarantees that all remaining pieces are no bigger than the set shredding size.
While hard drive wiping is a secure method, effectively erasing all data while preserving the device – the most sustainable option – some organisations, perhaps due to less familiarity with modern wiping technology, still feel more secure with shredding. They perceive it as offering a higher level of data security, a necessity for their organisational requirements.
Not all shredding services are equal, so choosing one with the right capabilities is key.
Important considerations when choosing a hard drive shredding provider:
- Shredding Process: Utilising a cross-cut shredder is crucial, as it creates complex cuts and smaller debris compared to traditional strip-cut shredders.
- Debris Size Variation: There is a range of different shredding sizes in the industry, Shredding sizes can range from 40mm to the stringent 6mm standard required by the UK MoD, the smallest debris offering the greatest guarantee of data destruction.
- Offsite Shredding: If you opt for your hard drive shredding to take place away from your location, you should ensure their shredding location is ADISA certified, having been audited and certified for best data-security practices.
- Issues Certificates of Destruction: This certificate should be issued to the customer for their records, evidence of their regulatory compliance in safe data disposal.
- Responsible Recycling: The shredded debris of hard drives and other data-bearing devices contain valuable materials such as rare earth metals. You should ensure your provider follows sustainable recycling processes for all shredded debris.
Vyta’s hard drive shredding service, DiskShred, has been trusted by organisations who require the greatest data security for over 20+ years, including government departments, global banks, leading law firms, uniformed public services and the armed forces.
