The data sanitisation experiment: putting our process to the test

Data security is the biggest worry when disposing of devices that hold highly sensitive information. Some organisations deal with it in-house, removing and destroying every drive by hand on their own premises. That brings problems of its own.

The client

A UK organisation with strict confidentiality requirements and extremely sensitive data on its devices.

The problem

For years, the client removed every hard drive by hand before handing the rest of its equipment over for recycling. It took a lot of time and effort, and it left room for error. They were understandably apprehensive about letting us handle the drives.

What we did

We wanted to prove that their data was safe with us, so we suggested an experiment. The client gave us a test batch of data-bearing devices. We wiped them the way we wipe every device, and handed them back.

The client then took the devices to an independent, professional data recovery service and asked its forensic recovery experts to find any data they could.

The result

They could not. No data could be retrieved from any of the devices, even by forensic recovery experts.

The client now recycles its devices through us without removing and destroying the hard drives itself. It receives a wiping report and a Certificate of Data Destruction for each collection as standard. Healthy drives are wiped and reused rather than physically destroyed.

The experiment strengthened the relationship between our two organisations, and gave the client’s compliance team peace of mind.

If you are concerned about the security of your data, read our data destruction standard or talk to us about your requirements.