Modern businesses are operating in a digital age. Paper documents are becoming a thing of the past, with many offices making the switch to a completely paperless system. Businesses even handle their financial transactions through electronic equipment.

While technology has made it possible to connect with customers in personal and unique ways, it has also created a unique problem. Destroying data is no longer as simple as passing papers through a shredder. Data destruction is a far more advanced procedure that should be handled by professionals.

Total Destruction

The most commonly used method for destroying data that is stored on an obsolete hard drive is shredding. Specialized shredders are capable of reducing a hard drive to small particles from which it is impossible to mine any usable data. No other method of destroying a hard drive can achieve this task.

Deleting the contents of a hard drive, drilling a few holes in a hard drive, or simply tossing the hard drive in a dumpster can put your company's data at risk. Information can be obtained from any hard drive that is mostly intact. This is why shredding is a critical part of any modern company's data management strategy.

Lawsuit Prevention

Government rules and regulations provide strict guidelines regarding the handling of personal information obtained by a business entity. If any of your clients' contact information or financial information is obtained as a result of poor data handling practices, your business could be held financially responsible for damages.

Failing to properly dispose of old hard drives leaves your company exposed to potential lawsuits. Any criminal with computer experience can access the data housed on the hard drive and use it to commit identity theft. Shredding your hard drives is the only way to know for sure that your information and data is protected when old hard drives are no longer in your possession.

Environmental Protection

Computer components can cause serious damage to the environment if they are not disposed of properly. The particles left behind after a hard drive has been shredding can be toxic, so they need to be handled in a very specific way.

Most businesses don't have the resources needed to comply with environmental restrictions, so partnering with a professional data destruction company is the only option. Data destruction companies can provide verifiable evidence that your company's data has been disposed of properly to help protect you against a data breach or environmental disaster in the future.

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