The Importance of Data Wiping & Data Security in 2023

When you think of cybersecurity, you probably think of high-profile data breaches impacting major brands.

However, 43% of attacks actually impact the small-to-medium-sized businesses. 

You can never be too careful in today’s business environment, and IT teams are constantly scrambling to make sure their companies don’t suffer the same fate.

But while most attention goes to protecting the endpoints we’re currently using, what about the devices we’ve decommissioned? It’s frighteningly common for small businesses to overlook this aspect of data protection. Exercise proper data hygiene by adopting data wiping procedures.

Let’s go over what data wiping is, how it contributes to data protection, and why the risk-laden landscape of digital security in 2023 calls for businesses to adopt it.

The State of Cybersecurity in 2023 and Why Data Destruction Matters

Public awareness of cybersecurity has undoubtedly seen a resurgence in light of recent data breaches. A 2023 report from Ivanti confirmed that over 7 out of 10 chief information security officers will see an increase in cybersecurity spending in the coming year. Yet despite increasing investment into data security, the problem is far from solved.

The first issue is a lack of awareness. For example, 44% of businesses in the United Kingdom risk GDPR-related fines heading into the millions for failing to wipe data from discarded drives, and 71% have no official data disposal policies.

The first few months of 2023 have already seen data breaches impacting large brands and exposing the records of millions of users. In January alone,

• Twitter leaked the email addresses of over 200 million users.
• T-Mobile, the telecommunications carrier, exposed the contact information and account numbers of over 37 million customers.
• Vice Media, an alternative publication group, exposed the payment information and Social Security numbers of 1,724 individuals associated with the company.

These incidents only emphasize why continuous improvement in cybersecurity and data protection is still necessary. Don’t end up like one of these brands; set up proper data disposal practices to avoid similar incidents in your organization.

What’s the Point of Wiping Old Data?

Think about it: why do offices invest in paper shredders? Those important business documents contain sensitive information that anybody could use to compromise the security of your company. You wouldn’t toss them whole into the trash, where anybody could dig them up again later. A paper shredder renders those documents unreadable to give you peace of mind after throwing them out.

Similarly, a data destruction solution is crucial to prevent security breaches related to your data on old hard drives and devices you aren’t using anymore. It’s a way to ensure the privacy of clients, employees, and business partners whose data you keep digitally.

Data wiping goes beyond emptying the recycle bin. Even formatting the drive doesn’t always prevent someone else from recovering its data. Issues that may arise from improper data disposal policies include:

• Stolen employee credentials, which cybercriminals may use to impersonate authorized users and compromise your online systems.
• Exposed cybersecurity tools and protocols, which hackers can use to break through your cybersecurity measures.
• Identity theft of your employees or clients, resulting in a significant loss of trust in your brand.

The next time you must decommission equipment or throw out storage drives, have a digital data destruction policy to prevent any sensitive data from leaking out.

Why Should Data Destruction Be Part of Your Business Workflows?

Data disposal can’t be an afterthought. Management must build it into the IT lifecycle because of its role in business integrity. Data destruction contributes to:

• Data protection: Companies today collect a plethora of data from customers and employees, including contact information, social security numbers, and payment details. You can’t afford to risk any unauthorized parties recovering that data. Even devices you intend to repurpose for other internal uses can contain project-specific data that you don’t want to share with too many people.
• Regulatory compliance: Data protection laws are everywhere. You’ll find privacy regulations on a national and state/provincial level throughout the U.S., Canada, and beyond. Accidentally leaking information can lead to heavy penalties, fines, and other legal troubles. Some regions even demand companies show that they have proper data disposal methods.
• Brand reputation: If a cybersecurity incident occurs due to your negligence, the impact will damage your brand reputation permanently. Nobody wants to work with a company that exposes client information, and staff morale will fall when trust in your security breaks down.
• Streamlined workflows: Data destruction policies ensure you can dispose of outdated or unused hardware with peace of mind. Even with sensitive data hiding in desktops, laptops, servers, loose storage drives, and mobile devices across the company, a formal approach to data disposal saves time and costs while keeping security standards high.
• Freeing up physical space: Hoarding all your old drives is not an ideal solution. Even larger businesses must free up office space by removing old equipment, and proper data destruction allows some devices to be reusable.

All businesses must have robust data disposal policies, especially those in high-risk industries like healthcare and banking. The potential losses of data breaches are immense in these markets.

What Are Some Global Regulations and Standards Regarding Data Destruction?

Regulatory compliance is a primary advantage of data sanitation. Some examples of standards and regulations that specifically mention data disposal include the following.

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): The European Union has set requirements on how organizations may handle data. The “right to erasure” guarantees that businesses dispose of consumer data responsibly.
• India’s Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019: India’s parliament is looking to expand data protection obligations. It will restrict how long businesses may retain clients’ personal data and guarantee the “right to be forgotten” regarding old data.
• ISO 27001: This international standard by the International Organization for Standardization covers information security and has sections on data leakage prevention and the secure disposal and reuse of equipment.
• The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: PCI DSS compliance is the responsibility of major credit card brands when handling payment information. Requirement 3.1 calls for a formal data disposal policy.
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: HIPAA is a federal law of the United States that ensures the privacy and security of clients in the healthcare sector. It includes sections on the proper disposal of Personal Health Information.

What’s the Best Approach to Data Destruction?

We’ve mentioned before that emptying the recycle bin isn’t enough. Comprehensive data disposal can involve one of several strategies:

• Physical destruction. The first solution that might come to mind is crushing, incinerating, or otherwise destroying the hard drive so that it becomes unusable. Technicians must be careful during this process, as hard drive components can contain sharp edges and small metal pieces.
• Degaussing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Association of Information Destruction have guidelines for drive degaussing, which uses strong magnets to effect electromagnetic interference in the drive, rendering it unusable.
• Data wiping. Software-based shredding uses specialized software to overwrite the addressable memory locations on the drive with new data, ensuring the previous data is unreadable. Wiping is likely the most accessible method for most businesses, though the software you use must meet the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) standards. High-risk drives may require multiple passes.

If you’re just recycling an old family PC, most data destruction methods get the job done. However, wiping is a less wasteful and more cost-effective answer to data disposal for businesses going through dozens of storage devices regularly.

Why Is Data Wiping Essential for Businesses?

The primary advantage of data wiping is that the storage drive remains usable afterwards, allowing you to reuse, refurbish, or sell it. This eco-friendly solution prevents drives and devices from becoming e-waste and saves you money on the budget.

Businesses also have a choice of algorithm depending on their capacity for risk. Running a data wipe in multiple passes takes extra time and cost but virtually guarantees that the data is not recoverable.

However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has determined that one pass is sufficient for ensuring data security, even in a business setting. The high data density of modern storage drives allows even a single overwrite to erase all the data on a disk.

Protect the Security and Privacy of Your Staff and Clients with CNB Computers

Cybersecurity teams must be diligent when reducing the risk of data breaches. One aspect they cannot overlook is preventing cyber criminals from recovering data on discarded hard drives and devices. Data wiping ensures that decommissioned hardware doesn’t pose another security risk.

Are you looking for a data wiping service provider? Get in touch with CNB Computers today and explore our wide variety of managed IT services.