DiskShred has launched what it calls a secure disposal solution for sensitive and confidential staff, customer and business information. Providing on-site destruction of hard drives and other electronic storage media, DiskShred uses a lorry-based industrial shredder at the client’s premises to mutilate devices to 20mm pieces of debris.
"We developed this service because we recognise that data loss is a real and significant concern for businesses of all sizes," says Philip McMichael, DiskShred’s founder and Operations Director. "Likewise, the farther redundant media travels from a business’ location and the more hands it passes through, the greater the risk that that sensitive information could be lost or stolen. Not only does our method thoroughly destroy media and the sensitive information it contains, but it also offers clients added assurance: media never leaves their control until destruction is complete. Our method keeps clients’ data safe by keeping it with them at all times. And because our shredder is mobile, we can assist clients anywhere in the UK and Ireland."
The company with bases in Northern Ireland and the Republic disposes as follows: The lorry arrives at the client’s premises, the client’s Hard Drives and Electronic Media are loaded onto it, vetted staff remain with the lorry and materials at all times, and the devices are shredded in sight of the client.
The firm points to studies of how prominent the risk of data theft from redundant media is and how vulnerable organisations are. A report published in the International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry claims that data being stored on redundant drives represents a significant level of risk for commercial sabotage, identity theft and even political compromise. The three-year study, titled "The analysis of information remaining on disks offered for sale on the second-hand market", found that only one-third of disks had been wiped clean of data. This figure is supported by the recent report by Kessler International, which shows that 40 per cent of second-hand hard drives it researched contained personal and confidential corporate information.
DiskShred’s on-site shredding service allows clients to safeguard the personal and sensitive information they hold by providing conscientious destruction of their redundant media on their own premises. It enables clients to fulfil Data Protection requirements, and it can be a valuable risk mitigation resource in a client’s governance, risk and compliance (GRC) policy.
DiskShred’s mobile shredder destroys hard drives and other electronic media devices including: CDs and DVDs; Floppy and Zip disks; Memory cards; CCTV and video tapes; DAT tape/DLT cartridges; back-up tapes and disks; PDAs and mobile phones; portable storage devices (memory sticks/pen drives/flash media, external hard drives); and ID badges, electronic tokens and PIN readers.
Recent clients
Recent clients have included governmental departments, major corporations and SMEs, including those in the manufacturing, financial, law and accountants.
