Dispose of your IT and mobile devices with care says CEF

CEF, in partnership with Electrical Waste, is warning industry professionals to discard data storage devices with care or risk being a victim of cybercrime.

According to IBM, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. This includes various types of data, including documents and files, digital photos and videos, e-commerce payment transactions, payroll, health records and social media posts amongst others.

Latest figures from the Information Commissioner’s Office indicate that in the first half of 2016 there were 993 new data security cases reported in the UK of which 44 incidents involved lost or stolen hardware from which sensitive data was exposed.

Even more worrying is the rise in criminal use of data from devices sold on the second hand market or devices recovered from refuse. In June, Blanco Technology Group conducted a data recovery study to determine if residual personal and corporate data could be recovered from used electronics. The study showed that out of 200 second hand devices purchased from eBay, 78% contained residual data. Over half of the drives still held personal data such as financial information and 11% still held company data such as e-mails, spread sheets and client information, which could have been used for identity theft or fraud.

Shaun Donaghey, Group Operations Director for Electrical Waste, says: “An increasing number of companies and individuals are choosing to take a safe and responsible approach by securely wiping devices and disposing of data assets professionally. But there are still a lot of businesses that fail to take precautions when it comes to their IT asset disposal.”

“Building services professionals need to be aware that simply deleting the data or completing a factory reset is not a secure solution, because data remains on the device and can easily be viewed by cyber criminals. Therefore, it is crucial that IT asset disposal is dealt with in a secure manner by choosing a reputable supplier.”

Shaun concludes: “It’s important to be aware of the risks when getting rid of IT equipment. We use MOD approved BLANCCO software and provide on-site or remote data wiping and destruction of devices such as laptops, memory sticks, HDD’s and mobile phones which ensures that your data will never fall into the wrong hands.”

“Our message is simple. Don’t put your business at risk – take care of your sensitive IT waste by choosing a safe and compliant IT asset disposal company.”

For further details, visit: www.electricalwaste.com