Revelations of increasingly massive data leaks are now part of the daily news. Whether it's sensitive data from major ISPs or telecommunications companies, statistics show alarming figures for the frequency and success of hacking operations. This increases the pressure on companies to protect their electronic information from ending up in the hands of unauthorised people or even the general public.
A must for businesses
Data erasure is a fundamental issue when it comes to protecting a company's commercial and personal data. This is why they should, regardless of their size, have a data erasure plan in place that includes professional and reliable erasure methods.
Archived data must also be taken into account
Long-term archived data can also be a target for criminal attacks. When old hard drives or magnetic tapes need to leave the company, make sure they have been securely erased or physically destroyed.
In addition, current data erasure provisions have been strengthened by the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), introduced in early 2016 and mandatory in all EU member states in spring 2018.
How to delete data correctly
What are the options and what is the optimal erasure method to achieve this :
- Data erasure software : The easiest way to permanently erase data is by using dedicated software. This allows hard drives, flash memory media and devices and virtual environments to be permanently and securely erased without the need for additional hardware. There are many products on the market, from free tools with limited functionality to commercial products such as Blancco 5. All are based on the same principle: these tools overwrite the media with new information generated by different algorithms. Apart from its simplicity, the advantage of this method is that the storage medium can be reused after erasure.
- Demagnetiser : A degausser (a degaussing tool, such as Ontrack Eraser Degausser 3.0) generates a magnetic field so strong that the existing magnetic alignment on the media is disordered and therefore destroyed. This method is generally very reliable. The degaussers available on the market produce such a strong electromagnetic field that they can also erase the latest hard drives with very high magnetisation density. However, as the name suggests, only magnetic media such as hard disks and tapes can be demagnetised, not SD cards or flash memory media based on electronic memory and controller chips.
Hosted Erase, professional erasure management for large amounts of data
As well as erasing data, it is also essential for businesses to obtain an erasure certificate to validate the operation, so that in the event of an examination, proof can be provided. If you only need to delete a few files each year on different servers, computers, laptops or tablets, this can be done manually. But when it comes to deleting terabytes of data taking into account different requests and using different deletion processes, this task needs to be automated.
It is in situations such as these, that a professional data erasure management solution, such as Hosted Erase should be in place. Hosted Erase is a web-based interface where IT administrators in charge of erasure can manage all licensing and erasure execution as well as reporting. From this management centre, it is possible to consult at a glance all the licences for Blancco software such as Blancco 5 and Blancco Mobile (for mobile phones, smartphones and tablets). For each deletion, a certificate and a detailed report are also generated, which can be used for internal investigations or in the event of litigation.
Hosted Erase's main advantage, however, is that you don't have to provide your own infrastructure to manage data erasure. The solution is deployed on secure servers in Ontrack data centres, simplifying life for IT administrators. They no longer have to set up or maintain their own erasure solution, while ensuring that operations run smoothly and erasure certificates are generated. Hosted Erase takes care of everything, accurately and securely.
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