Question: When is a deleted file not really deleted?
Answer: When you press the delete button…
Crazy as that may sound, it’s true.
Yes, hitting the delete button means files are no longer available to you, but it doesn’t mean data isn’t recoverable by malign software at the hands of clever hackers.
Yes, there are various forms of cleaning up your hard drives, such as reformatting, reverting to factory settings, or getting a hammer out, but they do not make your data unrecoverable to the determined bad actor.
What is secure data erasure?
It’s a specialist software program that a professional ITAD partner like Restore Technology can use to target active and inactive data on a range of devices, working to parameters and standards that you can determine.
How does it work?
The concept is quite simple. Data erasure software works by overwriting existing information on a storage device with random binary data – zeros and ones, basically. We can set it up to be as targeted, or blanketed, as needed and, at the end of the process, the program checks that data is beyond recovery and enables the creation of a certificate of destruction.
Data erasure standards
Governments and other authorities have created standards for all those in need of strong data sanitisation. At Restore Technology, we work to the following:
-> Infosec Level 5 Enhanced – data overwriting standard used by the British government
-> National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – their Cyber Essentials Plus certification requires a hands-on technical verification that ensures protections are in place and operational, and that our erasure software is approved and certified.
-> NPSA – National Protective Security Authority (NPSA)
-> ISO 27001 – par of our Information Security Management accreditation applies to the security of our handling of your confidential data and asset through rigorous risk management processes.
Why data erasure is important for businesses
The benefits of data erasure are key to the success of your IT estate management.
–> Secure data erasure safeguards against data breaches while protecting your devices from damage that can be caused by the other types of erasure mentioned above.
–> Certificated data erasure, to the required standard, ensures your peace of mind that you’ve chosen the right solution, as well as ensuring compliance with the UK GDPR and meeting customers’ expectations surrounding their ‘right to erasure’.
–> Data sanitisation via software is the sustainable option, both environmentally and financially. Overwriting data on hard drives means assets can be re-used, rather than destroyed. It means the re-introduction of those assets to market, returning residual value to you, and ensuring your devices are recycled as part of the circular economy – which is certainly something to write to all your stakeholders about.
If you’d like to hear more about how Restore Technology uses data erasure to secure your peace of mind, give one of our persuasive customer services team a call.
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