Data Destruction

When customers need the highest security of confidential data, physical destruction  is the most secure way to dispose of both hard drives and the actual equipment or device. Data destruction is the physical process of degaussing or shredding machines to ensure complete destruction and integrity of the equipment. Data will be completely unreadable and inaccessible, providing you with minimal risk and security compliance.

While Data Erasure and Sanitization is a secure and regulated process, sometimes it can be costly due to the amount of time it takes to permanently delete or destroy the data. The key to making your decision on destruction verses erasure depends on the secondary value your devices and equipment may have; use that value to see if it offsets the expenditures and time needed for erasure procedures.

Types of Data Destruction

Physical destruction – using this method of destruction is a way to destroy electronic media (devices and equipment) beyond operation. Degaussing is a type of physical destruction, which disrupts the magnetic field thus destroying the data on magnetic storage tapes and hard drives. (Note: this method alone has a high capital cost, and it does not meet green or sustainable program requirements. Additional measures must be taken to destroy appropriately). 

Shredding – this method of hard drive destruction is one of the most secure and cost-effective ways to destroy data and outdated equipment. Shredding reduced devices into small pieces (2 millimeters or smaller) to ensure that high-security data is completely irretrievable. Shredding is very secure, fast, and efficient. 

Punching – this process involves using drills or presses to punch physical holes into drives, making them unreadable, while also destroying the drive. This process can still be done, but it has to be done properly to ensure that the data cannot be retrieved. This method is effective on spinning disks, but solid-state drives (SSDs) should use another method. GCI does not recommend using this method.

GCI Offers a Certified Asset Destruction Service

When erasure of  hard drives and data devices is not secure enough, GCI offers the ultimate data protection by destroying and shredding disk drives. We ensure that all compliance requirements are met and that all shredded particles are properly recycled. Once we have completed the asset destruction for you, we provide a data destruction certificate, along with a detailed report or audit for your records and compliance purposes. If you have specific needs, we will work on a tailored solution to accommodate logging and reporting. 

GCI works with clients to tailor solutions for IT asset destruction. We provide on-site as well as off-site data disposition to meet the needs of each customer. On-site destruction minimizes the risk of leaking high-profile data; we will create a space to properly dispose of equipment, which minimizes your risk. 

GCI will ensure that you meet all NIST SP 800-88 guidelines for your data destruction.