Things you Need to Know About our Hard Drive Destruction Services
Data is the lifeblood of many businesses. You have a lot of information stored as data, and that information shouldn’t get out. There are several ways that data can be taken care of once it no longer needs to be kept. Many people hear about both data deletion and data destruction and wonder whether there’s a difference between them that matters.
Data deletion may sound like it’s basically the same thing as data destruction, but they couldn’t be more different. With data deletion, the data in question is just made inaccessible by the operating system. When this happens, that data is still available. It can still be recovered if someone really wants it. When you delete data, you have to think of it still being there, even if you can’t as easily access it. After it’s all been deleted, you could still lose control over that data and have it get into the wrong hands.
Data Destruction
Data destruction goes a lot further than deletion. With this method, the data is completely eliminated so that no one can get ahold of it. The process makes the data unreadable so that it can never be retrieved. Sometimes, a company that performs data destruction will do something called degaussing. This is a way to damage the magnetic field so that the data is no longer stored. However, this can be done at different strengths, and it may still result in a hard drive that can be used again.
What we at Summit use is much different. We want to destroy the data so thoroughly that it’s never retrievable and is gone forever. To do this, we use physical data destruction instead of electronic destruction. We use an industrial shredder to completely destroy the hard drive. This heavy-duty shredder is made by Meri-Shred Corp and can shred solid-state drives as well as rotary hard drives. It can also shred things like memory cards, cell phones, thumb drives, circuit boards, backup tapes, optical drives, and more. It turns these devices into particles that are 3/8” wide for the ultimate in security. The industrial shredders are so tough that we can shred more than 200 drives in a single hour.
Staying Compliant with Your Data
If you have requirements of regulatory compliance such as HIPAA, it’s important that your data is destroyed rather than deleted or halfway removed. When data isn’t destroyed properly, it can leave your business data as well as patients’ data vulnerable. To ensure that there is no risk of this happening, shredding is highly necessary.
If you’re responsible for implementing FACTA or HIPAA regulations, there are very strict rules about how the data should be destroyed and how its destruction can be proven. They will require you to have a certificate of destruction for everything you have destroyed. This certificate has to have the serial number of each item on it to make sure you have been compliant with all of the requirements for all of your data-containing devices. If you don’t get this certificate, you could have legal problems or get huge fines for not handling your data properly. We here at Summit provide that Chain of Custody as part of our data destruction.
When you get your data effectively destroyed and stay compliant, you will protect your business and the data of your customers. This will save you both time and money.
On-Demand and Pick-Up Services Available
We offer versatility so that you can get data destruction done when and how you need it to be. You can set up a pick-up so that we can pick up your devices and take them back with us where they will be destroyed. That can be the occasional appointment when you need data destroyed, or you can set up a recurring appointment so that your data is always being handled properly. We also have on-site data destruction. With this service, we can bring a mobile shredder to your business and destroy the data right there. The task is done by a certified operator so that it’s all done right every time.
No matter how we get your data devices, we’ll ensure that we follow every guideline for their destruction. One of the guidelines is to maintain a chain of custody of the data that is highly secure and keeps the devices being tracked by their serial numbers. After data is destroyed, we always give our customers a certificate of destruction.
When you need it done on-site, we generally will give you a five-day window for the service. Many people choose to get on-site data destruction because their data isn’t supposed to leave their location. This may be because it’s sensitive business data or other reasons. You may simply want to see that it’s all done and everything is destroyed.
Full-Service
No matter what the size of your business, we can help with our professional, experienced service. We also take care of the recycling for the destroyed hard drives and other electronic devices. We’re a full-service operation that’s dedicated to helping you to stay compliant and making sure that your discarded data can’t end up in the wrong hands. Once your items have been destroyed, they can be made into new items so that the materials aren’t put into landfills.
Because we can handle so many drives in so little time, you won’t have to worry that the process will be a hassle or take a long time. We’re fast and effective, and we care about delivering the best data destruction services in the area. When you need it done right to protect your business or to stay compliant, we’re the company to call. When the tiny pieces of your hard drives are ready, there’s no way for anyone to ever take data from them again.
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