How To Increase Profits With Asset Shredding

Did you know that upgrading your equipment not only enhances security but also opens avenues for increased profits? That’s right. In the dynamic landscape of data center decommissioning, being able to converge efficiency, security, and profitability can truly set you apart in an increasingly competitive market.

In this guide, we will discuss asset management, IT asset shredding, and data destruction and explore some of the most innovative strategies to elevate your operations.

What is IT Asset Shredding?

IT Asset Shredding refers to the secure and irreversible destruction of information stored on electronic devices and the physical destruction of the devices themselves. This process is a crucial component of IT Asset Disposition (ITAD), which involves the proper management and disposal of outdated or decommissioned IT equipment.

The Importance of Asset Disposal and Data Destruction

As we have seen above, the importance of asset disposal and data destruction extends beyond compliance; it is a crucial aspect of safeguarding sensitive information, protecting organizational reputation, and contributing to environmental sustainability.

1. Data Destruction:
   • Physical Destruction: Involves physically damaging the storage media beyond repair, making data recovery impossible.
2. Device Destruction:
   • Shredding Process: The physical destruction of electronic devices, such as hard drives, servers, laptops, or other storage media, using specialized shredding equipment. The DIN and NSA states that SSD must be shredded down to 2mm x 2mm particle size for secure destruction of irrecoverable media.
   • Complete Disintegration: Some shredding methods result in the complete disintegration of the device into small particles, rendering it irreparable. Shredding and disintegration to 2 mm particles is the only way to eliminate data breaches for secure device destruction. The Phiston A2 is currently the only machine on the market that can shred all-media types including HAMR and MAMR drives down to such a particle size.
3. Security Compliance:
   • Data Privacy Regulations: IT asset shredding is often conducted to comply with data protection regulations (such as the NSA standard or HIPPA) and ensure that sensitive information is not at risk of being accessed or misused.
   • Industry Standards: Adhering to established industry standards and certifications for data destruction and IT asset disposal can provide you with a framework and set of guidelines to ensure that the disposal of your IT assets is conducted in a secure, ethical, and environmentally responsible manner.
4. Risk Mitigation:
   • Preventing Data Breaches: By thoroughly destroying data and devices, organizations mitigate the risk of data breaches, identity theft, and unauthorized access to confidential information.
   • Protecting Reputation: Proper IT Asset Shredding helps protect the reputation and trust of organizations, as clients and stakeholders expect secure handling of their data. 
5. Environmental Responsibility:
   • E-Waste Management: Shredding electronic devices is often part of responsible e-waste management practices. The shredded materials, particularly metals, can be recycled, contributing to sustainability efforts. This can be a secondary venture for organizations to regain profits from asset shredding. For example, one pound of e-waste made of laptops is worth $1, while one pound made of motherboards sells for around $3.

The Best Data Destruction Methods

Data security and secure data destruction are the frontline defense against data breaches. This means, mainly, that all data stored on decommissioned devices needs to be irreversibly erased or physically destroyed to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse.

There are a few different techniques that can facilitate this process while helping with your organization’s asset tracking and asset recovery. Let’s look at them in some more detail.

Solid State Drive (SDD) Destroyers

SDDs store data on flash memory chips, presenting a challenge distinct from traditional HDDs. SDD destroyers leverage crushing or shredding mechanisms designed specifically to mutilate the memory chips, rendering data unrecoverable (something you cannot guarantee if you only rely on overwriting data).

SDD destroyers ensure the complete and secure destruction of digital data by targeting the delicate components within solid-state drives. Crushing, shearing, or piercing mechanisms dismantle the memory chips, leaving no trace of sensitive information.

Good examples of SSD destroyers include:

• MediaVise® High Thru-Put SSD Destroyer 
• MediaDice® SSD Disintegrator-2C

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Destroyers

HDDs, the stalwarts of data storage, demand a different approach. HDD destroyers employ powerful crushing or shredding mechanisms to physically obliterate the hard disk platters, ensuring that the data stored in them becomes irretrievable.

The relentless force of HDD destroyers crushes, shreds, or punctures hard disk platters, effectively eliminating the medium where magnetic data is stored. This physical destruction is an excellent form of secure data erasure and the ultimate guarantee against data recovery attempts.

Some examples of our HDD destroyers include:

• MediaVise® Compact HDD Destroyer
• MediaDice® All Media Disintegrator A2

Disintegrators

Disintegrators take data destruction to a microscopic level. These machines use high-speed rotating blades or hammers to disintegrate storage media into tiny particles, eliminating any possibility of reconstructing the data.

The disintegration process ensures that data-bearing media, whether HDDs or other storage devices, is reduced to minuscule particles. This method not only guarantees security but also facilitates e-waste recycling by separating materials for further processing.

Two great disintegrators we manufacture are:

• MediaDice® All Media Disintegrator A10
• MediaDice® All Media Disintegrator A2

Degaussers

Degaussers disrupt the magnetic fields that store data on traditional HDDs and magnetic tapes. By exposing the storage media to a powerful electromagnetic field, degaussers erase the magnetic patterns, rendering the data unreadable.

Degaussers are effective against magnetic storage media, providing a swift and thorough erasure of data. This method is particularly useful when physical destruction is not feasible or when the media needs to be reused.

Did you know the NSA no longer accepts degaussers for the NSA/EPL list? This is because the NSA standard now is 30,000 gauss for HDDs, and there is currently no machine on the market that can go up to that level. Their current list includes machines that only peak at around 1 Tesla. As HDDs evolve, degaussing won’t be a viable option for data erasure as HAMR and MAMR HDDs require upwards of 7-8 Teslas, and no such magnetic technology currently exists. 

An excellent degausser by Phiston Technologies is:

• MediaVise® Rackmount Dual Sanitizer (Up to 2 Tesla)

Destroy Data and Open a New Revenue Stream

If you are looking to open new revenue streams with your asset disposal, here are some thoughts to keep in mind. Asset disposal is profitable when you recycle and sell the e-waste that can be generated from the machines. For example, recyclers buy e-waste by the pound. However, this can only be efficiently accomplished with the proper equipment. Currently, the MediaDice A2 is the only machine on the market with a magnetic separator inside of the machine. This separates the magnetic material from the nefarious materials. This makes selling and recycling easier for profitability. 

For instance:

1. Environmental sustainability: The separator ensures that during the data destruction process, metals from electronic devices are efficiently separated from other materials. This separation facilitates responsible e-waste management by isolating metals for recycling. By redirecting metals such as aluminum, copper, and other recyclable materials away from landfills, the organization actively contributes to minimizing the environmental impact associated with electronic waste (e-waste).
2. Economic viability: Selling the recovered metals from e-waste becomes a lucrative source of additional income for your organization (this is, after all, a $40 billion industry). Metals retrieved through the metal separator can be sold to recycling facilities, creating a secondary revenue stream. The income generated from recycling e-waste can also offset costs associated with data destruction processes and equipment maintenance or even contribute to funding future sustainability initiatives.
3. Promoting circular economy: Embracing this approach aligns with the principles of a circular economy. Instead of discarding materials, the organization actively participates in reutilizing valuable resources, contributing to a sustainable and regenerative economic model. Recycling e-waste also lessens the demand for new raw materials, easing the environmental strain associated with extraction processes.
4. Brand image and corporate responsibility: The commitment to recycling e-waste showcases the organization’s dedication to green initiatives. This environmentally conscious approach enhances the brand’s image, appealing to environmentally aware consumers and partners. Actively engaging in recycling practices not only aligns with regulatory expectations but also fulfills a broader corporate social responsibility. It demonstrates a commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices.

Conclusion

Embracing asset shredding can be a powerful catalyst for increased profits, but it requires a strategic approach so you can guarantee your company’s sensitive data never falls into the wrong hands. However, IT asset shredding must offer both a secure and environmentally responsible solution for the end-of-life disposal of electronic devices.

The integration of a metal separator in our machines extends beyond the primary objective of data destruction. It transforms data disposal (and the disposal of electronic media) into a multifaceted initiative — one that champions environmental sustainability and generates additional income through recycling.

Phiston Technologies can help you with all your end-of-life media destruction needs. Our products include hard drive destroyers, solid-state drive destroyers, disintegrators, and degaussers/dual sanitizers – all of which make your data 100% unrecoverable.

Contact us today to arrange a chat.