Can giving them away put me at risk?

Clearing out old office equipment can be a freeing experience. It feels great to move out the old and bring in the new. Everyone loves a new scanner, printer, copier and computer equipment. But the question is, what should you do with the old stuff? If you’re thinking of donating it or selling it, think again. Doing so could put your business at risk. Here’s why:

Sensitive information is stored on your old equipment

We all know that hard drives, tablets, mobile phones, and other devices contain personal and confidential data and that simply deleting or wiping them clean isn’t enough to protect you against ID theft. But what about copiers, scanners, printers and other computer equipment? One of the best things about today’s office equipment is how advanced it is, nearly every copier, scanner and printer has a hard drive that enables it to provide a myriad of functions and tools. But just like your computer and network hard drives, these machines store data that if stolen, could pose a security risk to your company. Think about what kind of documents your staff is scanning, printing, and copying. Data like client information, credit card numbers, payroll stubs, personnel lists, addresses, social security numbers, company bank information, loan and insurance accounts, health records—the list goes on and on. And imagine what could happen if the wrong people got a hold of these types of data.

Would reverting to factory default help?

Unfortunately, simply resetting or reverting to the factory settings is never enough. Hackers and other unscrupulous folks have the ability to extract information that may not be visible to you or even your IT team. In fact, there is actual technology out there designed to recover deleted information. It’s just like deleting files off of a hard drive—it may seem to be clean but there is always the chance that some information has remained on the drive.

What can I do with my old office equipment?

The most effective way to protect your company is to have all old hard drives from your office equipment professionally destroyed. Just like shredding old paperwork, all devices and hard drives that contain any sensitive data should be shredded. Special shredding equipment can securely and permanently destroy hard drives quickly, ensuring that any information still on them can not be accessed.

All Points Mobile Shredding is a locally-owned and operated family business in Stuart, Florida that provides shredding and destruction to commercial and residential clients across South Florida. Our mobile shredding trucks are equipped with the machinery to destroy 8 to 10 hard drives per minute and we provide you with a certificate of destruction for further peace of mind. Give us a call to find out more or fill out this form.