The COVID-19 pandemic drastically shifted the workforce from the office to the home. As a result, millions of workers are using their computers to access corporate servers for information exchange via emails, messaging, and file-sharing. However, what happens when users upgrade their systems and leave behind hard drives of sensitive company information for unauthorized parties to access?
A False Sense of Security
The typical mindset is that the computer’s hard drives are fully erased and also rendered inaccessible after formatting. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are many easily obtainable apps and tools to recover formatted hard drive data. Even more concerning is that they don’t require advanced technical experience to use. Sensitive information can end up in the wrong hands, setting up a sequence of events leading to catastrophic data breaches.
Mobile Devices Aren’t Immune
Many virtual workers access their company’s servers through tablets and smartphones. However, the same danger exists once newer technology replaces these devices. If the devices are not correctly reset, company apps, especially those configured for auto-login, pose the greatest threat, since they can allow anyone to access the company’s servers.
If the phone is malfunctioning and cannot power on, physically remove and destroy the SSD chip that holds the data. A third-party company must do this with specialized equipment to completely destroy the chip.
Legal Implications
Industries must follow regulatory laws pertaining to data security and follow specific guidelines on the destruction of sensitive information. HIPAA, FACTA, and FISMA are federal laws to protect the public’s information. As a result, proper data destruction is critical to avoiding financial and health information from falling into the wrong hands.
How We Can Help
With personnel continuing to work remotely for an indefinite time, it’s imperative that your company’s data storage protection policies remain intact. As staff upgrades their home office computers, securing the used storage media and ultimately destroying them properly is critical.
At Phiston, we use high-security hard drive destruction equipment that destroys the sensitive data from your computer’s hard drives, smartphones, and other storage media. Our patented destruction tools permanently destroy all sensitive data at our Miami, Florida location and properly dispose at one of our recyclers or return it to you.
Contact us for more information and a quote for any of our professional data destruction services.
