Data Wiping Best Practices for Businesses – Explained!

This blog post talks about data wiping best practices for businesses and the reasons for erasing valuable company data. Read this blog till the end to understand everything!

Data digitalisation and the arrival of AI (artificial intelligence) have helped businesses grow immensely in their financial and consumer base. However, this rapid growth has made them ignore one critical aspect of their workflow: data. Data is the backbone of every business, irrespective of its scalability and revenue.

Consumer information, financial data, employee records, and the like have immense value for every company. However, all these data files also have serious value for hackers, who are developing new methods to access these critical data for their gain, leaving your company vulnerable to data breaches, financial ruin, and reputational damage. That’s where data wiping or erasure comes in.

What is Data Wiping?

Data wiping, or data erasure/destruction is a data deletion or sanitization process that demolishes (or destroys) all data from storage devices beyond restoration to ensure no one can access it through data recovery software or other means. This way, you can reuse the devices or resell them without worrying about data remanence.

Many methods are available for data deletion, and some of these are:

• Overwriting: This method involves implementing a random character set of zeros and ones to overwrite the existing data with inaccessible data for reusable mediums like hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, etc. before they are reused or sold.
• Formatting: This method involves completely resetting the entire data storage medium, like a USB Drive or Hard Drive that permanently deletes the data stored on it without recovery possibility. It makes the data storage medium completely new with no previous data residual. However, some data may still show up due to factors like drive corruption. Moreover, anyone can recover the deleted drive data using specialised data recovery software available online, which makes this method less preferable for data erasure.
• Degaussing: This method destroys data using a strong magnet to break the data medium’s magnetic field to permanently remove data from the device. It doesn’t leave any media trace on the device, making it most secure for data deletion. However, it renders the devices worthless, so you have to scrap them with necessary device destruction permissions.
• Physical Destruction: Going a step further, physical device destruction is another data demolition technique to ensure no data remanence. Shredding, incineration, crushing, melting, and drilling are some examples of physical drive destruction for data wiping. Degaussing mentioned in the previous point is also another example of physical destruction. However, these methods pose major environmental effects, besides secretive data leaks and e-waste generation.
• Automated Software: The best method for permanent data deletion or wiping comes in the form of automated software. Many software are available online that help businesses get rid of critical data for security purposes. These software have different wiping methods like Russian – GOST-R-50739-95, Peter Gutmann, and British HMG IS5.
• Factory Reset: This method resets the device to its original settings by deleting all data from the device without any scope of retrieval or recovery. Factory resets are beneficial for companies when they decide to donate/refurbish a limited number of devices to other companies/people since they ensure that the next users can’t have access to crucial information or corporate apps.

Now that we have read about data erasure basics and the methods used for permanently deleting crucial data files, we will explore the reasons for data wiping best practices for businesses.

Why Businesses Should Practice Data Wipeout?

There are many reasons why businesses should implement data removal standards in their daily operations, and this section mentions some of them:

• Data Security: The primary objective of data erasure is to ensure no unwanted party can access sensitive data like customer records and financial details, thus reducing the possibility of a data breach in the case of device loss, theft, or improper disposal.
• Legal Compliance: Another reason for businesses to make data destruction policies is legal compliance. Data protection regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, and others mandate security and privacy rules regarding consumer data registration and disposal. Failure to comply with these laws may result in heavy monetary fines, legal lawsuits, and reputation damage.
• Safeguards Customer Loyalty: Since every business runs on consumer support, data security and privacy have become essential elements of their operations. Showing an undeterred commitment to data safety and privacy ensures higher customer retention rates and even taps into a new customer base. Moreover, being transparent about data disposal methods with customers helps businesses upscale their brand image and build customer loyalty.
• Reduced Costs and Data Loss: A long-term investment in data wiping solutions helps businesses save money by averting data breaches, regulatory fines, & even bans and reducing their dependence on extensive data recovery methods. Moreover, working with data removal solutions helps with efficient data management and deletion of unrequired data files, ultimately preventing data theft or breaches.
• Device Reuse or Resale: Thoroughly wiped devices (computers, laptops, hard drives, etc.) can be reused or resold without any traces of the old data exposed at all. This way, you can reuse the cleaned hardware for cost reduction or resell it to other companies for additional revenue generation.

These reasons necessitate urgent implementation of the data erasure standards, and the following section explores them.

Read More: How to Make Hard Disk Data Unrecoverable? – Answered Here!

Data Wiping Best Practices for Businesses

We have read about data erasure/wiping basics, methods used in permanent data deletion, and the reasons why businesses must implement data removal standards. This section explores the best data destruction strategies:

1. Development of a Data Wiping Policy or Framework: The first step in being a privacy-friendly company is formulating a policy or framework that contains well-written standards to be used for deleting crucial data from the database and devices without leaving any traces or chance of unlawful access. It should clearly outline the timeline, involved devices and wiping methods, and the people responsible for the procedure. Moreover, your formulated framework must comply with legal regulations like HIPAA and GDPR. Ensure that the framework is written in an understandable format, and all employees should agree to follow it without problems.
2. Invest in Certified Data Erasure Tools: Another step is using professional tools for wiping out crucial data from all office devices. You can rely on automated software to permanently delete all the data from your devices. If you wish to go offline, then you can use degaussers like the Pitney Bowes PD-5 Hard Drive Destroyer. You can also go for total hard drive incineration or shredding. Make sure you verify the certification of the external data wipeout service company before you start the data deletion procedure.
3. Staff Training: The most important step for making data wiping best practices for businesses is employee training. Regularly impart data deletion training for your staff members that includes tool usage, documentation processes, and information handling. Employees must be educated in these areas: data destruction importance; improper data disposal risks; and data deletion procedures and tools. They must be frequently trained in the latest technologies and data compliance laws.
4. Validate Data Wipeout Procedures: All businesses must record their data erasure procedures for legal compliance and in-house procedure reviews. Use specialized software to check the storage device for any possible remaining data after the data deletion procedure. You can also perform sample testing on the wiped devices to check the strength of the methods used. Moreover, you can engage an independent third-party auditor to check your methods and get a report with a detailed explanation. It becomes essential to document your procedures in case of an unlikely legal case or sudden legal review orders.
5. Update Data Wiping Techniques: Businesses must keep up-to-date with the latest data erasure techniques and software. They also must frequently review and upgrade their data removal policies and procedures. They can subscribe to newsletters or connect with technical experts to stay in the loop about new methods.
6. Ensure Legal Compliance: Since new data regulations are evolving every day, you must stay informed about them. Moreover, also read about any changes in the existing laws. Businesses can subscribe to newsletters and connect with verified sources to learn about legal updates. Engage the services of data protection law experts to update your procedures and documentation about data removal records. Being unaware may lead to hefty fines and even lawsuits if found guilty.

These strategies are effective for making data wiping best practices for businesses, and one of these is automated software, as mentioned in one of the points. We will explore one powerful software in the following section.

Expert Software for Perfect Data Destruction

Even though methods like factory reset and device formatting guarantee complete data deletion from devices, they don’t perfectly do so. Hence, some data elements remain on the devices, resulting in data remanence. Therefore, SysTools Data Wipe Software is the answer for perfect and powerful permanent data deletion from devices without any remnants. It complies with many global data laws, like ISO, HIPAA, GDPR, etc., for secure data destruction. Moreover, it offers various wipe methods like Russian – GOST-R-50739-95, Peter Gutmann, and British HMG IS5. It also provides a report containing details like data erasure method, verification status, file path, etc.

Software Usage Process for Data Wiping

1. Download and run the software on your Windows or MacOS computer.
2. Next, click the Select Folder or Select File option to pick a folder or single file.
3. Then, click Next and select a Data Wipe method of your preference.
4. Click the Wipe button to start the data destruction process. You can’t retrieve the data once it gets permanently deleted.
5. View the data removal process report.

Note: The demo version securely deletes only the first ten files of a folder below 5 MB in total size. Buy the full version to permanently wipe data from folders without any restrictions.

Conclusion

We discussed data wiping best practices for businesses in this blog post. Data wiping is a data deletion process that works to demolish (or destroy) all data from storage devices beyond restoration. Businesses should practice data erasure for the reasons listed here. We also mentioned one automated software for perfect and powerful permanent data deletion from devices without any remnants.