Baltimore Hard Drive Destruction

Not all sensitive data is kept on paper. More and more, Baltimore businesses and homes store their sensitive data digitally on computers or other electronic media devices. Banking information, classified business information, and even medical records are all kept online now and shared between various users. Even paper documents can be scanned to a computer and sent to someone else with just the click of a button. Did you know that data is recoverable from a hard drive even if you think you’ve wiped it clean of your files?

The only way to ensure that you or your business’ data doesn’t end up in the wrong hands is to have that hard drive shredded. This process is required for compliance with Maryland privacy laws, including HIPAA. Businesses that fail to destroy hard drives could end up with serious violations and fines. Simply deleting files is not sufficient enough to guarantee the destruction of the information, as it can easily be recovered with free software.

Don’t just assume this means only the hard drive in your traditional desktop computer is at risk. Hard drives are hidden everywhere in a home or office — each of them potentially having sensitive data stored in its memory. Commonly overlooked are scanners, fax machines, and printers, which can retain a copy of every digital file any of these devices have received or handled throughout their lifetime.

Shred These Items Regularly

• Fax machines, scanners, copiers, and printers
• Mobile devices like cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, tablets, and laptops
• Legacy magnetic media like floppy drives, zip disks, and magnetic tapes
• PC hard drives
• Optical media, including CDs and DVDs
• USB removable media such as pen drives, thumb drives, flash drives and sticks
• Memory cards, including SD, SDHC, MMC, compact flash, microdrive, and memory sticks
• Embedded flash on boards and devices, including motherboards and peripheral cards such as network adapters or any other adapter containing non-volatile flash memory
• RAM and ROM-based storage devices
• Biomedical devices such as physiologic monitors, infusion pumps, ventilators, MRI, CT, and diagnostic ultrasound and laboratory analyzers

With this in mind, it’s easy to see why there is no better way than to physically destroy the hard drive, which can be performed on site or at a secure Baltimore facility. The final step involves melting down the metal pieces for recycling, guaranteeing absolute destruction. Just like with any other shredding service, you’ll receive a certificate of destruction once the process is complete.