Data Destruction for Businesses
If you want to ensure the sensitive data stored in your hard drives is impossible to recover, you must destroy the media so it cannot be repaired. An excellent way to do this is using hard drive crushers, which use hydraulic or mechanical force to exert extreme pressure and shatter the platters.
In this article, we will explain what crushers are, which types of media storage devices they can destroy, and how they can help you remain compliant with data security and data protection requirements.
What is a Hard Drive Crusher?
Hard drive crushers are specialized devices that are designed to physically destroy drives and make the data stored in them irretrievable. In other words, crushers don’t just render the hard drives unusable; they also eliminate the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access to whatever was saved in them.
A drive crusher works as follows: The machine employs a powerful mechanism that applies extreme pressure on the hard drive. This pressure deforms and mangles the hard drive chassis, shatters the platters where all the data is stored, and damages other internal components, too.
Because this process makes it virtually impossible to extract any information from the media, crushers are considered an ideal solution for organizations that handle highly confidential data and also need to comply with strict data protection regulations and industry requirements.
Types of Crushers and How They Destroy Data
There are a few different types of drive crushers. The difference lies mainly in the type of mechanism that is used to destroy data – although they all follow the same principle: Apply enough pressure that the chassis deforms and the platters break. The most common types of crushers include:
- Manual crushers: Manual crushers are relatively simple and compact. These devices require manual operation and typically consist of a handle or lever mechanism connected to a crushing plate. As an operator, you will need to apply force to the handle so the crushing plate presses on the hard drive. This process makes sure the plate, platters, heads, and other internal components are deformed and destroyed.
- Pneumatic crushers: Pneumatic crushers are more potent than manual crushers. They use compressed air to deliver high-pressure force and crush storage devices and drives.
- Hydraulic crushers: Hydraulic crushers, as their name suggests, utilize hydraulic power to generate a significant amount of force. They have a hydraulic pump or motor that drives a crushing plate or piston that applies tremendous pressure on the hard drive, causing it to be crushed and rendered inoperable.
- Automatic crushers: Automatic crushers are more advanced and efficient machines that can handle multiple hard drives with minimal user intervention. They often incorporate features such as a loading tray or conveyor belt to streamline the feeding process. Automatic crushers use hydraulic or mechanical mechanisms to crush the hard drives, ensuring their complete destruction.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Hard Drive Crushers
If your company is evaluating different data destruction techniques, a good first step is to consider the benefits and downsides of using hard drive crushers for your data destruction needs. So, let’s explore what this method is good for – and what things you should also keep in mind if you go after this approach.
Benefits of Crushers
The four main benefits of using crushers to deal with your old hard drives are:
- The destruction is irreversible. Hard drive crushers deform the chassis and shatter the platters of a drive, also dealing with its internal components. The data is thus made impossible to recover.
- Crushers help with compliance and data protection regulations. Most regulatory bodies and compliance standards accept hard drive crushers as a secure data destruction method.
- Crushers are easy to use. Many of these machines are designed to be pretty straightforward to operate. For example, they require minimal training or expertise, so they can be used by people with various technical knowledge.
- They are versatile machines. You can use hard drive crushers to destroy various types of drives, including HDDs, SSDs (solid state drives), and a wide range of other storage devices and media.
The Effectiveness of Hard Drive Crushers on Different Types of Media
Hard drive crushers are designed to deal with various storage media, but their effectiveness can vary depending on the type of drive you want destroyed.
Using Crushers to Destroy HDDs
Hard drive crushers are highly effective in destroying traditional spinning hard drives or HDDs. They can deform the chassis, shatter the platters (where the data is stored), damage the read/write heads, and render the drive inoperable. There is then no way to recover the data using conventional means.
Using Crushers to Destroy SSDs
Solid State Drives, or SSDs, use flash memory chips instead of spinning platters. While hard drive crushers can physically destroy SSDs, their effectiveness on this type of media is somewhat limited. One important consideration to keep in mind is that SSDs store data electronically. So, although the crushing process may damage the physical components of the SSD, it may not guarantee the complete destruction of the stored data because the information is distributed across multiple memory cells. A better way to destroy an SSD is to use degaussing or shredding.
Using Crushers to Destroy Other Media Types
Hard drive crushers can also potentially damage other types of storage media like magnetic or backup tapes, floppy disks, optical discs, and portable storage devices, although their effectiveness may be limited or impractical for them. Media-specific destruction methods, such as degaussing for magnetic tapes or shredding for optical discs, are generally considered more suitable and effective.
What’s The Difference Between Crushers, Disintegrators, and Degaussers?
Crushers, disintegrators, and degaussers are all methods you can use to destroy data – but they differ in their approach and effectiveness. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Crushers: As we have covered, hard drive crushers physically destroy hard drives by applying pressure or force to them. This way, they can render the drive inoperable and make data recovery virtually impossible. Crushers are best suited for HDDs but may have limitations in completely destroying data on SSDs due to their electronic nature.
- Disintegrators: Disintegrators use a shredding or grinding mechanism to break down hard drives into small fragments. These machines often feature sharp blades or cutting elements that tear apart the hard drive into tiny pieces and can offer a high level of destruction. Disintegrators are effective for various types of media, including hard drives, tapes, and optical discs.
- Degaussers: Degaussers use powerful magnetic fields to erase the data stored on magnetic media, such as hard drives and magnetic tapes. They do this by disrupting and neutralizing the magnetization patterns on the storage media. Although degaussers are highly effective for magnetic media, they do not destroy the physical components of the drives.
In summary, crushers deform and crush hard drives, disintegrators shred them into small fragments, and degaussers erase their magnetic data.
The method you choose will depend on the type of media you want to destroy, compliance requirements, and the specific security needs of your organization. For example, crushers, shredders, and disintegrators destroy the physical structure of drives and make it extremely difficult to retrieve any data at all, while degaussers are very effective with magnetic media but will nor work on SSDs, HAMR, or MAMR drives.
Sensitive Information, Crushers, and Compliance
Because hard drive crushers are able to completely destroy the data stored on media, they are generally considered very effective ways to meet the usually tough requirements of data security and data compliance.
Regulations often mandate that your company demonstrates and documents how you are destroying your previously stored sensitive data. When you use a crusher (for example, as a service provided by a certified data destruction company), you will obtain a certificate of destruction once the process is completed. Most regulatory bodies will accept this documentation as an approved method.
It’s also common for organizations to have to undergo periodic audits to assess their data protection practices. By using hard drive crushers, you will be able to demonstrate your commitment to mitigating data security risks, including data breaches, identity theft, and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Using Data Destruction Services
Using data destruction services can be an excellent way to securely dispose of your hard drives and make the information stored in them irretrievable.
If you are considering accessing specialized equipment and expertise, consider reaching out to Phiston Technologies. Our destroyers, disintegrators, and degaussers are trusted by some of the largest tech organizations in the world, including IBM, Amazon, and Facebook.
At Phiston Technologies, we specialize in end-of-life data destruction solutions for multiple industries and needs. Plus, all of our products ensure your data is made 100% unrecoverable and are engineered to meet the highest levels of security and data destruction compliance. Get a quote today and learn how our solutions can fit your business.
