Study discovers lots of organizations destroy all solid-state drives to protect sensitive data from theft and abuse.
A study by Blancco Technology Group found that lots of government companies damage hardware to protect delicate data.
Government companies could save millions of dollars by recycling and recycling solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of destroying hardware to protect delicate information. Thats the recommendation from the Blancco Technology Groups report on data management approaches. The report, “The Price of Destruction: Exploring the Financial and Environmental Costs of Public Sector Device Sanitization,” found that lots of companies have recycling strategies in place however are not executing them.
The study is based upon survey data from 596 government IT leaders in 9 nations. The survey discovered that the federal governments and public sector companies represented spend as much as $17 million every year on the physical damage of solid-state drives.
The exact same organizations invest another $40 million to change the devices for a total of $57 million. The costs of ruining SSDs and changing is between $6.9 and $7.3 million for the U.S. and between $6.4 and $6.9 million for the U.K.
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Blancco offers information erasure software to handle end-of-life data, reuse data storage possessions and comply with data defense and personal privacy laws. Transparency Market Research predicts that the market for information erasure software application will strike $21.4 billion by 2030 and lists Stellar Information Technology, Kroll Ontrack, Blancco, IBM Corporation and Certus Software as substantial service providers of this service.
The survey found that 41% of participants stated physical damage is mandated by law for SSDs that consist of classified information, so they destroy all SSDs “simply in case.”
Other findings consist of:
Cryptographic erasure or file encryption was shown usually by 89% of respondents.
Physical destruction of SSDs alone was used by 60% of the respondents.
Physical damage of IT possessions that house SSDs was used by 48%.
Software-based erasure was utilized by about half the companies (55% did this onsite while 45% selected offsite) to permit reuse of the gadget.
The report authors see 2 main problems with damaging a drive as the default method to maintain data security:
” Unnecessary damage increases IT operations and products costs for fiscally constrained public sector companies. It also promotes increased e-waste production throughout a global call for more sensible ecological stewardship.”
The information reveals that device destruction and replacement can cost even smaller governments countless dollars each year along with minimizing the helpful life period of a gadget and making redeployment, return and resale impossible.
Almost all survey participants (93%) indicated that their company had specified strategies to lower the ecological effect triggered by destroying IT equipment, but only 21% are implementing those strategies.
Alan Bentley, president of global method at Blancco, stated in a press release that public sector organizations ought to consider SSD sanitization rather of destruction to enhance sustainability.
” Weve seen several public sector departments gain from moving far from ruining data bearing assets to recycling them or developing the circular economy,” he stated. “Our study highlights that there are considerable opportunities for policy reform surrounding SSD information protection as national policymakers seek to steward monetary, environmental and information resources delegated to their care.”
The survey likewise discovered that 22% are uninformed of alternative approaches of sanitization. The report authors kept in mind these best practices for the different methods of sanitizing utilized drives:
File encryption: Keys should be safely stored and managed and users need to be diligent in how and when they execute file encryption procedures.
Physical damage: No information storage areas can be left undamaged and damage techniques should be proper for the specific possession.
Information erasure: Using accepted industry requirements and confirmation of erasure are vital.