The Dos and Don'ts of Destroying a Hard Drive Properly

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The Dos and Don'ts of Destroying a Hard Drive Properly

In today's digitized world, the vast majority of data is stored on hard drives (HDDs) and servers, otherwise known as the cloud. Some estimates conclude that 2.5 zettabytes of data exist in the world today. That may not sound like much, but 1 zettabyte is the equivalent of over 1 billion terabytes (TB); and today's higher end laptops that tout high storage capacity usually come with 1TB.

With so much digital data flowing around us at all times, it's important to make sure that yours is secure. As technology develops, so too do ways to exploit it. After all, if someone wants your SSN, banking info or other personal data, they aren't breaking into your file cabinets or safe in the dead of night to get it. No, they'd much prefer hacking that info remotely. This is why it's so important to know how to destroy a hard drive properly.

How Common Are Data Breaches?

You may be thinking to yourself, "data breaches only happen to big corporations. I'm a small business, I'm not at risk". But you'd be wrong. In fact, most cyber criminals decide to target small business because of their lacking cybersecurity infrastructure. We only hear about the Yahoo!s and the Targets in the news because of their large scale, but most criminals are lazy and small businesses are low-hanging fruit.

Forbes reported last year that more than 4.1 billion records were exposed in just the first 6 months of 2019. For comparison, around 5 billion records were exposed in all of 2018. Businesses accounted for 84.6% of those exposed records, with the average breach costing a business $3.92 million including potential fines after failure to report the breach and other legal expenses.

How NOT to Destroy a Hard Drive

Clearly, data security is rapidly becoming a serious issue for businesses, governments and individuals alike. One of the best ways you can protect yourself, your business, employees and customers is by having a rigid data retention policy and properly disposing of old hard drives. However, as with any new phenomenon, there are some myths surrounding the topic. Here are some commonly held methods of destruction that don't actually work.

1. Reformatting. Reformatting your hard drive, in a nutshell, is preparing a drive for everyday use. The process erases all local files and restores your drive to a "blank slate" so to speak. However, because of the way (re)formatting works, the "erased" data is still recoverable on a hard drive after the fact. All that's needed is the right software and some free time.
2. Magnets. How do they work? Well, they don't. Not to fully destroy hard drive data, at least. You've probably heard the advice before: keep magnets away from hard drives because they can erase data. This advice may have been true in theory, but it never pertained to household magnets. The theory is that the magnetic spinning disk, called a platter, of a HDD is disrupted and therefore unable to write and record data. However, the strength it would take to erase a HDD is simply not found in run-of-the-mill fridge magnets -- it would take MRI levels of magnet strength. There has been some anecdotal evidence of people using neodymium magnets to these ends, but they merely render the HDD unusable and do NOT destroy data, meaning it could still be recoverable by somebody who knows what they're doing. Plus, SSDs (solid state drives) are on the rise to replace HDDs and they don't even have moving parts to disrupt.
3. Microwave. DO NOT DO THIS! Microwaving a HDD is one of the most ineffective ways to destroy data, but it WILL be effective in starting a house fire. It will also cause irreparable harm...to the microwave oven. And sure, it may render the HDD unusable, but so long as the platter is intact (which a microwave will probably not affect), data can still be recovered from it.
4. Water. Dunking a HDD under water is, again, a great way to render it unusable. But generally speaking, hard drives are well sealed and prevent water from getting into the main components. Even if water DOES get in, it will not affect the magnetically stored data on the platter and can eventually be recovered.

How to Destroy a Hard Drive Properly

One of the only truefire ways to destroy a hard drive and all the data contained on it is to have it shredded by professionals. Since a hard drive (read: hard disk drive, NOT SSD) functions via the platter, a spinning magnetic disk, the most important part of decommissioning it is to destroy that platter and ensure the data on it is unrecoverable. As we pointed out above, there are quite a few rumors floating around the internet on how to destroy hard drives -- from muriatic acid to microwaves and more. But you shouldn't have to expose yourself to harmful chemicals; and do you really want to undertake a process that requires safety goggles?

If you want to have peace of mind knowing your data is fully wiped and scrubbed permanently from the face of the earth, then call in professionals like R4 Services. We are discreet, secure and professional. We'll either come to you to collect and transport the materials or you can stop by our facility. We confidentially shred all hard drives under the supervision of insured employees and issue a certificate of destruction upon completion. Our brand-new, state-of-the-art hard drive shredder can handle any number of drives you throw at it and will instantly reduce any drive to unrecognizable, metal bits. We're able to work with you in order to assist your organization in its compliance requirements.

For discreet and proper hard drive destruction, get in touch today.

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