There are a few methods for hard drive destruction. These include shredding, wiping, crushing, and degaussing. This article will discuss the most reliable way to destroy hard drive data, ensuring your company complies with state data protection laws.
So, why is it important to securely destroy hard drives?
Organizations like healthcare and finance work with high volumes of confidential, sensitive data. And with severe consequences for data leaks and violations, it's essential to follow rigorous methods for data destruction.
The Best Methods For Destroying Hard Drives
The best method for shredding hard drives depends on the organization and the amount of sensitive data handled.
However, even small businesses need the best hard drive shredders to meet all their data security needs.
Computer shredding needs complete hard drive destruction to render data irretrievable. This can be done with industrial shredders for maximum level data security.
Here are some of the most effective hard drive shredding methods:
Shredding
This is a popular method for destroying hard drives. Industrial shredders can shred hard drives into small pieces, rendering the data unrecoverable. This ultra-quick and efficient method is ideal for organizations needing to destroy many hard drives.
Some hard drive shredders we recommend:
- Datastroyer 104/2 Hard Drive Shredder
- Datastroyer 108 Solid State Drive (SSD) Shredder
- HSM HDS 150-1 Hard Drive Shredder
Degaussing
Degaussing is a method for permanently destroying hard drive data. These devices use powerful magnets to scramble the magnetic fields on a hard drive, erasing the data.
Some Degaussers we recommend:
- MBM Destroyit Degausser and Hard Drive Punch (HDP)
- Datastroyer 106 Hard Drive Degausser
- Datastroyer 105 Hard Drive Drawer Degausser
Crushing
The data-crushing method physically damages the computer's hard drive, ensuring it is unusable. Hard drive crushing can be done manually with handheld tools. Still, it's best to use specialized crushing devices for maximum data destruction. Crushing is an effective method for destroying hard drives and is quick and easy to do.
Some hard drive crushers we recommend:
- Datastroyer MCD-HS Manual Crushing Device
- Proton PDS-75 Manual Hard Drive Crusher
- Proton PDS-100 Automatic Hard Drive Crusher
Disintegration
Disintegration involves using a machine to break the hard drive into small pieces. This is a highly-secure method leaving the particles virtually impossible to reconstruct. This is a slower way to destroy hard drives than others, but it offers a safe and ultra-secure way to destroy data.
Some data disintegration machines we recommend:
- Datastroyer 145 Disintegrator
- Datastroyer 320 Hard Drive Disintegrator
- Datastroyer Model 1000 Disintegrator
Incineration
Another data destruction method is burning the hard drive at high temperatures until wholly destroyed. While this procedure is highly secure, ensuring the data is permanently destroyed, we don't recommend it because it isn't environmentally friendly. Instead, we suggest organizations use specialized equipment.
If you need help with data security, speak to our experts at Whitaker Brothers for more information here today.
