Imagine what would happen to your organization if you lost customer information, including credit and debit card numbers for millions of Americans? For Home Depot that scenario has become reality as security experts are reporting a massive theft of confidential information that may be linked to the retail giant.2
According to investigators, customer data may have been stolen from nearly all of Home Depot’s 2,200 stores in the United States. While authorities have yet to confirm or deny that Home Depot is the responsible party, the company has since moved quickly to calm customers’ worries by offering credit monitoring services to those potentially affected by the breach.3
Quick corrective measures such as the ones taken by Home Depot are appropriate considering the issue at hand. When you consider that companies are digitally attacked an average of 16,856 times a year, it should be no surprise to smart business leaders that they need to take proactive steps to prevent breaches from occurring in the first place.4
Online attacks are not the only threat to an organizations information security. Businesses must ensure all data is secure, including hard drives and physical documents. As recently as June of this year, an employee at a Georgian law firm lost a hard drive containing names, social security numbers and other personal information when it was stolen from the trunk of his car.5 While details of this data loss were not shared publicly, one can well imagine the impact to the firm’s reputation and revenue.
Shred-it’s 4th Annual Security Tracker revealed that 60 percent of U.S. small business owners and 30 per cent of c-suite executives have no policy in place for destroying digital assets. The study also revealed that almost half of the small business owners surveyed had never disposed of hardware containing confidential information. It is clear more needs to be done. American businesses need to prioritize information security, and they need to start as soon as possible.6
Three Simple Workplace Guidelines Are Designed to Safeguard Hard Drives:
- Perform a regular cleaning of storage facilities and avoid stockpiling unused hard drives
- Destroy all unused hard drives using a third-party provider who has a secure chain of custody to help give you peace of mind and ensure your data is being kept out of the hands of fraudsters
- Regularly review your organizations information security policy to incorporate new and emerging forms of electronic media
What types of electronic media can be destroyed?
- Hard Drive (any kind laptop, desktop, PATA, SATA and many more)
- Backup Magnetic Tapes (any kind DLT, mini cartridges and many more)
- Floppy Disk (3.5 inch disk, 5.25 inch disks, and many more)
- Zip Disk (100 MB, 250 MB, and other large disks)
- Optical Media (CDs, DVDs, Blue Ray, and HD DVD)