When it’s time to upgrade your computer, or you’re forced to upgrade because of outdated technology, you will probably move all of the data on the current hard drive to the new hard drive. However, that doesn’t mean the data is gone, even if you erase it after you’ve transferred it. Any criminal could get the hard drive and steal the data off of it. Even if you “wipe” the drive, a hacker could recover some or all of your sensitive data. To adequately protect your private data, and that of your clients if you are upgrading a business computer, contact Carolina Shred about our hard drive destruction services.
Even if you use hard drive destruction techniques, including poking holes in the hard drive, making it rust or even microwaving it, which is not a good idea anyway, criminals could recover data. The trick to making data unrecoverable is to make sure the platters no longer spin. However, not all hard drives use platters anymore.
Consumer Hard Drive Destruction
Data you save on your hard drive is stored in binary code. The platters are made from glass, ceramic or aluminum. The platters are similar to CDs or DVDs. If you try to “drown” the hard drive, others could still retrieve data from it. The water only disables the electronics – it does not wipe the data. The newer solid-state drives (SSDs) could be drowned, though it’s not a reliable way to destroy a hard drive. Flash drives and SSDs use a circuit board to access the data stored on them, so if the water wrecks the circuit board, the data may not be accessible. Some people think magnets will erase the data, but that is not reliable, either.
A more reliable way to destroy a hard drive would be to take it apart and punch holes in it or shatter them if they are glass. However, people may still recover data, though it is a long and expensive process to put the pieces back together. If the drive is aluminum, you might prevent data recovery by scratching it, but you would have to scratch it in such a way that the drive won’t initialize. If someone really wants the data, they may be able to read the drive around the blemishes. If you drill holes in the platter, the heat destroys the data, but you would have to drill many holes.
Some people use acid, but that is dangerous. Others recommend using programs that write over data, and this is the least reliable method. The government and others have programs that can extract deleted data from the hard drive.
Your best bet to avoid data theft is to shred old hard drives. Hard drive destruction costs are minimal compared to the costs for chasing after an identity thief and the fines you might have to pay if customer data gets stolen.
Why Use Professional Hard Drive Destruction
When you have a professional shredding service like Carolina Shred destroy your old hard drives, you get a hard drive destruction certificate. We destroy hard drives for businesses and we also have consumer hard drive destruction. Consumers use their computers for many things other than emails and surfing the web. If you use it to pay bills or bank online, data that could be used to steal your identity is on the hard drive. Even something as minor as your email address or your home address could be that piece of information a hacker needs to steal your identity.\
Contact Carolina Shred
Contact Carolina Shred to make an appointment to destroy your old hard drives and to shred any documents you no longer need.