If you are in the process of going through a liquidation of IT assets and a computer disposal is on that list of assets, then you also want to consider data destruction as one of the areas of consideration for that computer disposal. Data destruction concerns itself with just that, making sure that the data housed on the hard drives is destroyed. There are several methods of data destruction and two of them are hard drive shredding and DOD data scrubbing.
Hard drive shredding, as the name suggests, is the shredding of the hard drives. It is the physical destruction of the hard drives through the use of a shredder. When it comes to hard drive shredding some IT asset disposition firms offer both off-site and on-site shredding. Off-site shredding entails the IT asset disposition firm, otherwise known as an ITAD, taking the computers and hard drives back to their location and providing the shredding service there. On-site hard drive shredding means that the ITAD brings their machinery on-site to a company location to perform the shredding service. While off-site shredding is a service offered by most ITADs, a select group offers on-site shredding. So if on-site shredding is of interest to you, please be sure to ask the ITAD of your choice if they offer that service before proceeding too far into the transaction.
DOD data scrubbing is a software solution that adheres to the standards of the Department of Defense. As the name also suggests, it is a method of “scrubbing” the hard drives so the data is no longer accessible. Like hard drive shredding some ITADs offer both an on-site and off-site option.
In both cases of computer disposal, where hard drives are involved, both hard drive shredding and DOD data scrubbing offer a security factor so criminals cannot get their hands on hard drive data after a disposal. If the hard drives can be resold then the software method is the best choice as it maintains the functionality of the hard drive. But if the drives are older and have no value then hard drive shredding can be used. Ultimately whether DOD data scrubbing or hard drive shredding or PC Recycle is employed, the most important feature is that the security of the company and the company’s employees is maintained because all data will be rendered “gone.”
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