All data has value, whether financial, legal, historical or sentimental. But in some cases it has to be deleted permanently, and that’s where secure data destruction comes in.
To erase data permanently and securely, see Bot’s secure data destruction service.
Going far beyond simply deleting files or formatting the device, it uses techniques and procedures designed to make any future recovery practically impossible, in a secure and confidential service that ends with a certificate.
Bot has all the infrastructure needed to permanently destroy data for public and private sector organizations, companies and individuals, using algorithms and techniques that follow the highest standards recognized by regulators in the United States and Europe.
In addition, our services are designed to meet the requirements of data protection laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), giving you security and peace of mind.
What is secure data destruction?
It is a service that makes files completely unreadable, wherever they were stored. It also prevents these files from being recovered by any commercial means and later misused.
Data is fundamental to business today. However, once data has been collected, used, purchased, transferred or stored, companies share a common concern: what to do with it when it is no longer needed.
This concern becomes even bigger when we look at the statistics on data breaches. According to Statista, 155.8 million records were exposed in the United States alone in 2020, which is equivalent to almost 5 records leaked every second.
Furthermore, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021, cybersecurity failure was named by 39% of respondents as a risk that will become a serious threat to the world within the next two years.
That’s why every precaution is needed to keep sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. Once the data has been destroyed, it can no longer be read by any operating system, application or program.
In the United States alone, 155.8 million records were exposed in 2020, which equates to almost 5 leaked records per second.
How does secure data destruction relate to data protection laws?
Data protection rules have become much stricter in recent years. A series of global events increased the pressure for clear rules on how personal data is handled, such as the surveillance files leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013 and the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.
The Facebook case in particular, in which data from up to 87 million users may have been collected without authorization, became a symbol of this debate. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has applied since May 2018.
In short, these laws give people more control over their data, and organizations must clearly inform them about what they collect. Furthermore, companies or organizations that break the rules face heavy fines: under the GDPR, up to €20 million or 4% of annual worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
By choosing secure data destruction, you avoid future legal problems, as the data becomes practically impossible to access again.
How does secure data destruction work?
There are different methods of secure data destruction. Bot works with physical destruction and with logical data erasure (data wiping), both of which are highly reliable.
Data erasure can follow different standards. We work with the following:
DoD 5220.22-M data destruction standard
The DoD 5220.22-M method was published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), first in 1995.
At the time, the document specified a process for overwriting hard drives. In its original form, the DoD 5220.22-M method, also known as the DoD 3-pass method, was usually implemented as follows:
- Step 1: Overwrite all addressable locations with binary “zeros”.
- Step 2: Overwrite all addressable locations with binary “ones” (the complement of the previous step).
- Step 3: Overwrite all addressable locations with a random bit pattern.
- Verify the final overwrite pass.
Erasing a hard drive with the DoD 5220.22-M method prevents software- and hardware-based recovery methods from retrieving data from the drive.
Other variants were released later, such as DoD 5220.22-M ECE (2001), which has 7 passes instead of 3: the DoD 5220.22-M method run twice, with an extra pass in between.
DoD 5220.22-M is still one of the most common methods in data destruction software and is generally still regarded as an industry standard in the United States.
Even so, this DoD technique is less effective today than it used to be, and it takes more time and resources than more modern standards, which is why some federal agencies no longer recommend it.
Note that hard drives wiped with the DoD 5220.22-M method can be reused to store new files, while the previous data can no longer be recovered.
NIST 800-88 data destruction standard
DoD 5220.22-M is a very effective method for hard drives. However, it was published before smartphones and flash storage technologies such as SSDs existed.
That’s why, in recent years, a publication from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has become the reference standard for data sanitization in the United States: NIST Special Publication 800-88.
NIST 800-88 was first published in 2006 and revised in December 2014. It covers flash storage and mobile devices, which the DoD method did not consider.
The document sets out the preferred methods for destroying data on hard drives, peripherals, magnetic and optical media, and other storage devices.
In short, NIST 800-88 describes three methods to make sure data cannot be accessed by anyone it wasn’t meant for:
- NIST Clear. This method overwrites the data in all user-addressable locations using logical techniques, usually through the device’s standard read and write commands.
- NIST Purge. This method uses physical or logical techniques that make the data unrecoverable even with state-of-the-art laboratory techniques.
- NIST Destroy. Finally, this method physically destroys the media, so that the data cannot be recovered and the media can never be used to store data again.
How is physical destruction done?
In addition to logical destruction, such as the DoD 5220.22-M method and NIST Clear, Bot also offers secure data destruction by physical means, using two different procedures:
Electronic destruction
First, the condition of the device’s critical circuits is checked. Then its electronic circuits are destroyed and, finally, the firmware stored on the circuit board is read and erased, leaving the device unusable.
Mechanical destruction
In mechanical destruction, the actuator that moves the read/write heads is burned out. The magnetic platters are then demagnetized and destroyed, also leaving the device completely unusable.
What is the best method of secure data destruction?
It depends on your device. For hard drives, you can choose either DoD 5220.22-M or NIST 800-88. NIST 800-88 is the better option when many devices need to be destroyed, because it is faster.
However, for SSDs, smartphones and similar devices, you should rely on NIST 800-88, because the DoD 5220.22-M standard does not cover them.
Depending on the needs of each job, or after a thorough assessment by Bot’s technicians, electronic or mechanical destruction can also be carried out after the logical destruction.
How much does secure data destruction cost?
The cost of data destruction varies. It depends on the standard used, the condition of the storage device and how urgent the job is.
To find out how much secure data destruction will cost, request a proposal from Bot: just fill in the form on our dedicated page and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Can’t I just delete the data or format the device?
No. In most cases, data that has simply been deleted or formatted, especially on hard drives and memory cards, can still be accessed through data recovery, a professional lab-based service.
To give you an idea, here at Bot we recover data in the vast majority of cases where it was lost through accidental or intentional deletion, formatting or other failures.
When you choose secure data destruction and the job is done correctly, by experienced technicians in a proper laboratory, as here at Bot, the data becomes virtually impossible to recover. Not even our own team can recover it after secure destruction.
How can you be sure the data has been deleted and cannot be recovered?
After destroying the data, Bot issues a certificate confirming its permanent deletion, with the whole process handled securely and confidentially. This document gives you formal proof that the service was carried out.
Furthermore, Bot has a 96% data recovery success rate, and its commitment to quality and confidentiality is essential when dealing with something as sensitive as personal and business data.
Secure data destruction: essential to avoid problems and comply with data protection laws
Data is extremely valuable today. With ever more data being created (and, unfortunately, breached) every second, and with laws and regulations becoming ever stricter, data must be permanently destroyed using validated and recognized techniques and procedures.
Bot is the ideal partner for secure data destruction, giving individuals, companies and public and private sector organizations the peace of mind they need to avoid problems in this area.
Request a quote for the secure destruction of your data on our dedicated page now!
Need to recover the files? Bot runs a free diagnosis in its lab: see our lab data recovery service.
