Myths and Facts About Hard Drive Destruction
Most people don’t have any trouble understanding why hard drive destruction is crucial. Just think about how many saved passwords you have in your browser right now. Think about all the sensitive documents that are sitting in your documents folder.
Unfortunately, many people struggle to understand what it takes to destroy all the data that exists on your average hard drive.
Myth: I’ll Throw it In Gross Garbage
You may have trouble understanding why anyone would dig through old coffee grounds or dirty diapers to get to hard drives. Just remember, we often export our garbage to landfills in other countries.
In some of those countries, desperate people make their living picking through garbage for gems like hard drives. They then sell their finds to criminal enterprises. Do you really want to take the chance?
Myth: I’ll Just Run a Magnet Over It
It takes a magnet that can exert at least 450 pounds of force in order to destroy a computer’s hard drive.
For comparison, a 2-pound industrial electromagnet requiring 29 Watts of power has a load limit of 300 pounds of force. The fridge magnets in your break room will not do the trick.
Even then, you have to remove the platinum plating around the hard drive.
Myth: I’ll Just Erase Everything
Copies of your data continue to exist on the hard drive even after you delete or trash them.
The operating system removes the pathway to the data, but it leaves the data intact. Plus, fragmented files might exist all over the hard drive.
Anyone who knows a little bit about anything can generally reconstruct this data.
Myth: I’ll Use Software
Software erasure is only a partial solution. It might work well enough for giving your computer to a family member who will only ever play games on it, but individual data chips will still exist.
If you’re in an industry with high compliance requirements, software might not even begin to meet your legal obligations.
Myth: Take a Hammer to It
We stand by the efficacy of physical destruction, but a hammer isn’t sufficient. The trick is to destroy every block of data far beyond the ability of any forensics expert to piece it together. Every one, every zero.
Unfortunately, most DIY solutions on the market are simply insufficient to protect your data.
Get Help With Hard Drive Destruction Today
We crush, smash, and destroy hard drives so thoroughly that even a dedicated criminal would be hard-pressed to tell the scrap metal that remains was ever a hard drive! We also protect your data by destroying CDs, X-rays, and more.
Want to stop worrying about your data? Put the hammer away, step away from the magnet, and call Data Shredding Services of Houston, TX. We’re a leading media destruction company, and we’ll be happy to help!