Hard Drive Destruction for Classified Documents

Many documents and other information are vital for the proper functioning of a particular company. These documents are extremely important and they include contracts and other forms of E-mails and text documents. The same may even contain some classified data such as images and videos. Today, the world has advanced to such an extent that almost all the information is in the form of its digital copies. These documents are digital format files that need to be stored on computers. Many may say that it is easy to maintain such information as you can password protect and delete the same as per your wish. However, nothing is as easy as it looks and there are people who can do the unthinkable. When you talk about private companies and government offices that store information on hard disks, there is a need for security. These digital copies may be of great importance and can affect an individual, a company or an entire country. Such information that is secret to an individual or an organization is referred to as classified information and these are very sensitive. What this means is that there is a need for a hard drive destruction process that can destroy any such information when it is no longer needed.

Data destruction is a very specialized process that requires a team of professionals to eliminate the storage tool in a way that it becomes unrecoverable. Unlike what most people think, such information cannot just simply be deleted from the computer as a few notorious people can hack into the system and recover the previously stored data. No data is ever fully deleted and the risk of it getting into the hands of the wrong people is too high. The government authorities have come up with a special code that needs to be followed by companies that help in tape destruction and an efficient hard drive disposal. These codes are mandatory to be followed for complete destruction of the storage device and many companies indulge in such a form of business.

Classified hard drive destruction is gaining in popularity because of the benefits that it has on offer for its clients. The data is eliminated leaving no trace of its existence whatsoever. The companies that require such a form of service usually involve big private corporate houses and other government services that need to remove data to prevent others from being threatened. One of the most common types of hard drive destruction includes hard drive degaussing and tape shredding. Degaussing means to remove or decrease the magnetic field of a tape on which sensitive data is stored. When data is copied onto these tapes, a magnetic fired is created in a particular direction. Degaussing ensures that this magnetic field pattern is lost thus making the stored data redundant. Shredding on the other hand ensures that the tape in itself is completely torn into pieces so that it cannot be stitched back to recover any data. Research well and read reviews about the company, only then make the right choice.

Elizabeth Wilmot is the author of this article on hard drive shredding. Find more information, about media shredding here.