When it comes to erasing information from hard drives, degaussing is the way to go. To degauss a hard drive is to effectively scramble and delete the information on the drive in such a way that renders the hard drive unusable and effectively all information that was stored on that hard drive is gone forever. In today’s world of data breaches through supposedly obsolete equipment, it’s important now more than ever to effectively degauss hard drives.
Why Should You Degauss Your Hard Drives?
As you upgrade to new computers, there are options to consider when disposing of your old equipment. You might have deleted files from the computer but your hard drive can and does retain information. Enough information can be left on a computer’s hard drive to compromise the safety of your customer’s identity and cause you headaches and possible financial liability. Before you throw your old computers into the office dumpster, consider what you might be unknowingly throwing away. Depending on the industry you’re in, you could be inadvertently leaving the following information behind on a hard drive.
- Banking account information
- Credit card information and transaction records
- Medical records of patients
- Old client information and transaction records
- Personal data on employees
- Research data
- Social Security numbers
Does Degaussing Work?
Degaussing is an effective way to delete sensitive information from a computer hard drive. When you degauss a hard drive, you are removing all the data from the electronic media hard drive using an extremely powerful demagnetization process.
Can a Hard Drive Be Used After Degaussing?
No. The hard drive is completely erased and with it any boot up software that would be needed to operate the drive.
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