Data is gradually
becoming the new gold. Tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google generate
their profits based on how they manipulate the data of Users, which they often
sell to advertisers. Cyber Criminals spend a lot of time and resources trying to
steal the data of public and private organisations, because they know that data
is wealth. Meanwhile, corporations, multinationals, and more, that handle
sensitive information, continue to store them as data at a server or in a
computer. But there’s is more to it, and we’ll talk about this later on. But
more recently, we visited one of the major banks in Nigeria in order to
demonstrate how our outdoor data destruction facility works. Subsequently, we
ran a post on Twitter about our visit, and unsurprisingly we saw from a few
comments, that some well-educated Nigerians still know little or nothing about
Data Destruction, and yet most people use data storage device at home or at
work. With an increasing number people and businesses needing to use a computer
or a data storage device, one must wonder how and where these data end up.
Difference between
Data Deletion and Data Destruction
Data destruction is
simply the process of destroying data stored on tapes, hard disks, and other
forms of electronic media in an environmentally safe manner, such that the data
is completely unreadable and cannot be accessed or used for unauthorized
purposes. Today, many Nigerians carry the mistaken belief that once data has
been deleted from a computer, and marked for disposal and dumped at the trash,
it no longer requires much attention. They fail to understand that electronic
records are not physical, and deleting a file only makes the space that file
occupies as free and usable, not that the deleted file is forever lost. Until that
space is actually overwritten by another file, the data is still there and can
be retrieved. In fact the U.S. Federal Government advice that the disk space
formerly occupied by the deleted files must be overwritten with other data at
least seven (7) times before the entirety of the files are deemed
irretrievable. So you must know that even if you delete all files or format a
storage device, the data once there can still be retrieved. That is why when IT
assets are due to be replaced, have reached end-of -life, or are obsolete,
special care must be taken in disposing of them such that any data once stored
is rendered forever irretrievable.
Research has shown
that for many companies the problem often starts with not having a defined
policy around data destruction, many organization especially in Africa,
decommission their IT assets and leave them with informal handlers without much
thought given to whether or not the data is still accessible or not, thereby
putting the livelihoods of such a company and several others in jeopardy,
depending on the data they have left exposed.
What then is the best
way to go in rendering data irrecoverable?
What We Advice
• Most electronic
devices have storage media components that contain confidential information.
These devices must be properly erased for reuse, or degaussed and permanently
destroyed if unwanted to prevent confidential information leakages.
• Data leakages can lead to serious financial, intellectual property and
security breach, with huge ramifications not just for individual or corporate
body, but for national security.
REFERENCES
Data Deletion or Data Destruction ?
https://searchdatabackup.techtarget.com/tip/Data-deletion-or-data-destruction
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