Jump to Article Content:
The Reality of Used IT Assets
Today's IT assets in a business carry a lot of personal and business-related data. For example, the computers in the HR department carry a lot of personal data on employees and the business. A business must make a plan for the secure disposal of these assets.
Used or broken assets kept in storage present a threat to a business if they land in the hands of malicious people. Hackers would love to extract personal data; competitors would like to get inside information, and saboteurs would like to know how networks work. There are also cases where employees take advantage of an employer's used assets for spiteful reasons or selfish gain.
Businesses must also be sensitive to the role of IT assets disposal in environmental degradation. Not to mention, the financial loss incurred from expensive IT equipment losing their value with each passing year. When disposing of anything of value, especially complex machines like computers and laptops, it must be done in a way that either extends its value, namely, refurbishing them, or done sustainably to protect the environment.
As responsible global citizens, businesses should also seek ways of repurposing and recycling their assets to help the less fortunate. All these considerations are possible with a safe IT assets disposal plan, which includes partnering with a Certified-ITAD service provider.
Unsplash. Old computers in an office.
Used or broken assets present a threat to a business as stored data are still accessible. There is also financial loss incurred every year as these expensive equipment depreciates in value year-on-year.
A Brief Look at Secure IT Asset Disposal
Information Technology (IT) asset disposal is the process of securely destroying, repurposing, sustainably recycling, or reselling used IT equipment. This type of disposal is important for businesses because it helps protect sensitive data and prevents it from falling into the wrong hands.
A secure IT disposal program involves a plan to meet compliance mandates that thoroughly protects any important and sensitive data your company might hold. This data must be destroyed before disposing of the storage media. An organization must observe safe disposal practices for any asset that leaves the premises.
In cases with poor disposal practices, the business faces expensive charges, lawsuits, and long-term negative effects to their brand. In other words, failing to protect the data contained in their devices meant they appeared less trustworthy to their customers.
5 Best Practices for Safe and Secure Disposals
Organizations need to have a plan in place when deciding to dispose of their old, broken, used, and even unused IT equipment. It's recommended to follow best practices for a safe and secure comprehensive exercise to protect against data breaches and other harmful security threats.
Here are some tips for disposing of IT assets safely and securely.
1. Make Sure to Erase All Data From Devices Before Disposal
If you're getting rid of a device, be sure to erase all your data first. Hackers could recover your information and use it against you if you don't. In addition, it avoids opportunistic data leaks and breaches if these IT assets are meant for recycling or reselling.
However, simply deleting or formatting your storage device is not enough to guarantee your saved data is permanently removed as the information is still retrievable using readily-available forensic tools.
If you want to be 100% sure your data is thoroughly deleted, you should consider taking the extra step and investing in data wiping or hard drive shredding services.
Unsplash. This is a dangerous and ineffective method for removing data.
It is not recommended to take matters into your own hands should you accidentally lose them in the process. Choose to shred your devices using certified machinery that can disintegrate your hard drives into tiny particles.
2. Wipe and Shred Your Media Storages
When disposing of storage media that contains confidential information, regulations recommend that you wipe-out its contents permanently before discarding the device. Wiping your data can be done with software like Blancco or WipeDrive, but it is also recommended to destroy the media physically for added security.
Shredding your hard drives should be a priority in your business practice, as it is no different from shredding your papers and documents to protect them from prying eyes. Physical data destruction methods, which include degaussing and shredding, are effective in destroying stored data without fear of re-access.
However, this practice can be dangerous. It is not recommended to take matters into your own hands should you accidentally lose them in the process. There are certified handlers who are equipped with the right tools to properly disintegrate your storage media into small particles (approximately 2mm pieces) that are irrecoverable even by forensic methods.
3. Remove Stickers or Labels That Contain Your Information
Stickers, labels or any information identifiers are commonly found on parcels and boxes. Some companies place their brand stickers on their employee's devices as part of their inventory tagging and company branding.
If you have any stickers or labels that contain confidential information, be sure to remove them before reusing, reselling, or sustainably recycling your assets. Identity theft often happens by reconstructing the basic information available on the material.
At SPW, we remove any and all identifiers from our clients' devices to ensure that there are no physical traces of their information left on their disposed assets. We take the extra step to decrease stragglers from taking advantage of information, no matter how small.
Unsplash. Brand identifiers could lead to risks at the end of the device's life cycle.
Decrease the likelihood of a data breach from happening by removing your company identifiers from your devices before disposing or selling them.
4. Work With a Reputable Certified-ITAD Service Provider
When you take something as precarious as destroying hard drives or deleting important data into your own hands, the question "is it good enough?" will undoubtedly linger at the back of your mind.
This is why laws, regulations, and compliance standards are put in place for businesses to adhere to when it comes to permanently and safely disposing of their IT assets. Working with a reputable Certified-ITAD service provider will help you gain that peace of mind.
And that's because these organizations comply with the individual, national, and international standards that regulate the electronic waste management industry.
All Certified-ITAD service providers are carefully monitored by regulatory bodies and are annually assessed to ensure they remain worthy of their certifications. Failure to comply meant their certifications would be revoked immediately.
This ensures the highest standards are met throughout their service and guarantees that their client's security is protected while meeting the requirements of sustainable ITAD.
5. Do a Rigorous Disposal and Avoid Scrap Metal Yards
Once your business decides to do a disposal of your used IT assets, the first thing you would do is to get the vendor to issue a quote. Once you have 3 to 5 competitive quotes at hand, you'll be tasked with selecting a vendor that meets your management, finance, and HR team's requirements. That's a lot of yesses to take into consideration.
It's tempting to choose the quote that cost the least because no business likes to pay more than it has to. However, there are dangerous pitfalls that comes with choosing scrap metal offers versus certified services.
The risk incurred with choosing cheap labor often comes back biting harder than you would think. One of the risk is the hidden costs behind their quote that failed to take into account the changing market rates of IT assets. Another would be the lack of professionalism and integrity on their part as they are most likely untrained to do the job well.
Not to mention, asset disposals in landfills or scrap metal yards can harm the environment and human health. This can be seen as a big expense to the local community and the global environment. Electronic waste is a big problem in landfills, where electronic waste takes many years to break down. Non-biodegradable materials can be a problem to both the environment.
Doing a rigorous disposal benefits you and your business more than the costs it could incur. Next, we'll share the 5 benefits to choosing secure IT asset disposal services.
Unsplash. Professional and secure packaging.
Choose to do a rigorous asset disposal exercise without compromising on your assets. The risks incurred in choosing cost over quality could lead to more damaging effects.
Create an Asset Inventory
An asset inventory is a comprehensive list of all the IT assets an organization owns. This list can include everything from computers, external drives, thumb drives, cameras, mobile phones, and any other object that holds digital data.
Creating an asset inventory is crucial in the disposal of these assets. You can keep close track of each item. Did it go to the incinerator? Was it repurposed or recycled?
An audit of safe data destruction and assets meant for remarketing, relocation, or donation starts by inspecting the asset inventory. The IT Department can ensure that no other IT assets are listed in the inventory other than those supposed to be destroyed.
A legally-mandated data destruction audit must use the inventory as the basis of ensuring no item was left behind, misplaced, or disposed of in the wrong fashion.
5 Benefits to Choosing Secure ITAD Services
Now that you've understood the basics of doing a proper disposal exercise for your used IT assets, let's look at the 4 clear advantages of choosing to work with certified-ITAD service providers.
1. Avoid a Class-Action Lawsuit by Disposing it the Right Way
One of the ways for a data breach to happen is during an asset disposal exercise. And nowhere is this more true than the Morgan Stanley case of settling for a "poor man's wipe" to cut costs at every corner, which ended up with more than one class-action lawsuit against the bank.
When comparing disposal services, beware of low offers in competitive quotes as this could be a sign that something might not be right. Certified-ITAD services might quote a competitively higher average as it reflects the strictness that they adhere to throughout their service. It's far more important to get the job done right than it is to simply get the job done.
Unsplash. Court of law.
Avoid a potential lawsuit when dealing with your IT assets end-of-life cycle. It's far more important to get the job done right without the risks of cutting corners.
2. Protect Your Reputation by Meeting Regulations
Data privatization, data security, and GDPR have become buzzwords after the 2018 security attack that affected 50 million Facebook users. The introduction of GDPR after the effects of similar events has brought to light the importance of safeguarding both your business and your customer's information. Neglecting data privacy laws could land your business in hot waters.
A trustworthy ITAD vendor will help you meet regulatory standards by providing detailed reports throughout their service. They will also maintain your privacy at every step of the way. If your service provider fails to report on each item or equipment, take that as a red flag that they are exposing your business to risk. By choosing to cut-corners, you'll be risking your company and brand's reputation in your customers' eyes. The potential risk could even lead to long-term financial ruin.
A good sign that a vendor is meeting compliance regulations on an enterprise-wide scale is by having a structured program which addresses data security and environmental concerns through their services. You can be assured that an ISO-certified vendor guarantees that their products and services meet the quality, safety, and international standards for global trade.
3. You Can Save and Make Money in the Process
Did you know that you can gain buyback value for your used IT equipment? However, computers are being created and upgraded at a rapid pace year-on-year. After 3 to 5 years, a laptop's retail value depreciates by approximately $200 every year.
This is why it's important to review your asset list and inventory annually to ensure your expensive equipment hasn't depreciated in value. By trading your assets annually or at a timely rate through IT Asset remarketing, your financial books could be spared from seeing red.
Pexels. Computer buyback value.
Gain value from your used IT equipment by employing a remarketing strategy. That's one way to keep your budget committee happy.
4. Gain Peace of Mind That Your Information is Safe
Our returning clients have repeatedly said that the best value they've gotten from choosing to do a secure service is the peace of mind from the hassle of everything. When working with something as logistically complex as asset disposals, remarketing, and relocation, the last thing you would want on your plate is an angry call from your management team.
It goes without saying that the secure route also offers assurance that your sensitive and important data are protected and safely removed from your devices. No asset goes without it's unique tag to properly locate and identify them.
As this article have shared, the likelihood of a data breach is almost nil when working with a certified vendor so you can continue to operate your business with full confidence.
5. Boost Your Brand's Standing Through CSR and ESG
In today's culture, corporate transparency has never been more important. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies have become influential in informing investors and the general public of a company's values and goals.
You can meet your CSR and ESG goals by donating your used IT assets. By implementing donations into your corporate policies, you are able to build greater employee and brand awareness on the environmental and social impact your company is making.
The services that we offer at SPW cover your IT Asset Donation and Deployment needs. Out of respect to our clients who have donated and the charities we have worked with, most would rather not advertise their donation. Should this be something you would like to include in your IT asset disposal exercise, we can confirm that your refurbished assets will reach the communities who need them the most.
Schoolboys at SPW's recent donation run to a HumanAid refugee school in Kuala Lumpur.
We've included IT-ADD as a service since SPW's inception because we believe that fair opportunities should be made accessible especially within underprivileged communities.
We Have Your Back
Our secure IT asset disposal services provides the dependable solution you need for your e-waste and end-of-life asset needs. Our team applies safe and sustainable steps that are regulatory-compliant at every stage of the process. From the point of collection, auditing, shredding and/or wiping to remarketing and/or donating your IT assets, you can be sure with our end-to-end services that we take your security seriously.
We have coverage against the loss of or damage to your goods during transportation. This includes marine cargo shipment from the ports to the warehouses
Our professional team of asset removers ensure your devices are packed safely into our vehicles which are also equipped with GPS-tracking systems. We have armed our warehouses with fingerprint-only access complete with security alarms and 24/7 CCTVs in place
Our reach spans across the globe through our networks of partners and vendors. Wherever your business is based, you can leverage our worldwide network and we would be happy to assist you throughout your ITAD journey
SPW is Asia's go-to solutions provider for data destruction, data erasure, IT asset remarketing, and environmentally-responsible IT asset disposals. Contact us and learn how you can incorporate an ITAD strategy into your business today.
