IT departments understand that employees expect their devices to work reliably and immediately. To prevent workflow interruptions and staff frustration, you want to give them machines with proper configurations and software already pre-installed. Since companies work with hundreds of device endpoints, manually setting up every laptop, desktop workstation, and mobile device takes too much time. Many are looking for a more efficient way to set up machines with a clean slate, and computer imaging is the solution. Imaging allows businesses of all sizes to initialize new computers quickly and reset used devices to a like-new state, saving on costs and streamlining IT management. In a world where operating systems and applications are leading contributors to surprisingly high IT deployment costs, imaging is a must-have for modern IT groups. How Does Computer Imaging Work? A computer image records and saves the exact state of a software system. An IT department might take an image of an operating system to use as a template when setting up new computers or to reset current devices back to a “clean” state. In a corporate setting, a company maintains several OS images that match the configurations needed by various staff members. If new employees arrive and require new computers, IT teams can get a new machine started on the right foot through the master image. Imaging can also reset a PC to its initial working state if it suffers from significant software bugs or problems. What Are the Types of Computer Imaging? Two versions of computer imaging are available to IT teams: sector-based and file-based. Sector-based images replicate the entire storage drive onto another identical storage device. They include everything from the installed software to the drivers and operating system. For this reason, sector-based imaging is better known as “cloning.” While you do get an exact copy of the original drive, the primary issue with sector-based images is that you need another identical hardware model to transfer the image. Even smaller businesses would have to resort to dozens of reference machines to keep up with so many clones, straining time and resources. File-based images instead allow you to pick and choose the necessary files to become part of the image instead of replicating the whole system. This way, you have complete control over whether to snapshot the operating system, individual software installations, or any drivers. This level of control not only reduces the cost of storing all those images but also gives you flexibility when designing custom images that work with various device models. What Are Some Features of Computer Imaging Applications? Software that creates disk images often contains key features: Flexible partitioning: The software may change the size of the disk partitions to minimize disk usage. It can image drives with only a single partition or multiple if desired. Storage optimization: Some software packages come with compression algorithms to lower the file size of the image. Others also allow you to customize memory usage during the imaging process. Automatic drivers: An imaging application may also automatically detect drivers within an operating system image and save them independently in a repository for easy reference. What Are Some Ways to Deliver System Images? Creating system images is only part of the job. Deploying them for use across the organization with a variety of devices can go one of 3 ways. Offline image deployment applies an image to a machine without using the local network or the Internet. USB drives and optical media may be necessary to transfer the data. Offline deployment makes sense in areas with unreliable network connections or specialized use cases with high security needs, like government organizations. LAN deployments connect the machine to a local network to retrieve the appropriate image file. This approach is more scalable and can facilitate deploying hardware en masse while still maintaining excellent security standards. Cloud image deployments can distribute operating system files, applications, and driver packs through cloud storage solutions. While the most accessible and cost-effective, cloud deployments depend on the reliability of your cloud service provider. What Are the Advantages to Using Computer Images? Imaging is a vital component of PC lifecycle administration. Images enable a more versatile IT asset management workflow because they provide: Digitization: Images save your software states as digital files, so saving images is considerably cheaper than keeping around reference machines. Through imaging, an IT department can make better use of its hardware. Consistency: Companies can set up template images that meet organizational standards. Once these images deploy to all devices throughout the business, employees enjoy a more consistent experience across the board. Faster deployments: One image can deploy to multiple machines, so deploying many computers from scratch is much more efficient through imaging. Secure deployments: Even brand-new machines don’t come with the configurations your business might need. An image deployment process gets every computer started on the same page, including any necessary software updates, security updates, and configurations. Updates: When you configure your master image to the latest version of your operating system, you will receive continued support for longer. For example, having all the updates on the latest version of Windows ensures that Microsoft will continue to provide official support for your employees. Helpdesk support: Because all your machines come from the same image, you minimize variances among them. Technical support teams can then identify issues and roll out repeatable bug fixes more quickly. How Does Imaging Fit into an Overall IT Asset Management Initiative? IT asset management is an umbrella term for all the policies, procedures, and tools businesses use to manage their hardware and software. OS images play a significant role throughout this procedure. Imagine you’re providing your employees with laptops to help them work. During mass deployment of those PCs, you would use imaging to set up each device to a workable state by pre-installing all the updates and software needed. The needs of your employees will vary depending on where they are in the company. As an example, the accounting team will require different software packages and network privileges compared to the sales team. Create different master images for both groups to deploy new PCs tailored for specific use cases. If an employee leaves the company, you can either wipe the data from the machine or use computer imaging to reset it to an initial workable state. This way, it becomes available for a new employee to start using. How Do You Work with System Images? IT managers are responsible for designing and setting up system images and deploying them whenever necessary. Designing the Master Image To design the master image, start by deciding what operating system configurations to use. Look at what your employees do with their devices and find the appropriate applications and updates to add to the image. Multiple master images may be necessary to cover different use cases within the company. Take time to identify the programs and permissions each department and team may need and provide a tailored image for each. For instance, the IT department may keep an image containing the essentials, such as the core operating system installation, in addition to more specialized copies with basic office applications pre-installed. Ensure you’re working with the latest version of the operating system before deployment to minimize the chance of compatibility errors. Remember that machines often have different specifications, such as drive capacity, processing power, and RAM. You may want to audit your master images regularly to check for potential issues too, especially as the operating system receives updates. Working with Imaging Deployment Services While creating images isn’t difficult, managing and deploying them properly takes plenty of time and an organized approach. These services help you handle multiple types of images and devices and scale your efforts across hundreds of endpoints. Other benefits of working with an imaging service include: Remote management of system images and pre-set configurations. Security features to prevent cybersecurity incidents. Assistance with deployments. Companies looking to streamline this essential component of IT asset management will want to look for an imaging solution. Take Advantage of Software Imaging with CNB Computers Software images save the current state of a computer system into a digital file. IT administrators can then restore hardware devices back to that state whenever necessary, such as during new deployments or when refreshing older devices. Are you looking for a service provider that can not only help you create images but also manage and deploy them efficiently? Contact CNB Computers and see how our IT asset management expertise can streamline your deployments.

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.