Computer Hard Drive Identity Theft

Identity theft happens to 1 in every 10 people in the United States.  It is no wonder it is one of the most hardest crimes to crack down on and under-manned with the police force. There's is just not enough law enforcement officers to handle this epidemic.  This lays the foundation for why it is so important to protect your data.  With RCCS' experience, we find it amazing how many systems we receive from clients that no longer want their computer that has very sensitive data left on it.  They never mention that we should destroy the data, although we end up telling the client that we will do this for them anyway.

With that said, we have also seen numerous computers disposed of in landfills, only to be picked up by another person(wonder why they may want it? Hmmmm.....) and we have seen people sell computers "as-is" on eBay and other popular sites without any change to the current state of the data on the hard drive.  Why let your personal/business data go to the dogs so easily when you really should destroy it or wipe it out properly.  This is one of the best ways credit cards, bank accounts, & personal information are stolen.

DON'T TRUST RETAIL CHAINS TO PROPERLY DESTROY YOUR DATA!

Seriously, look it up on Google how many places that replace hard drives under warranty "must" keep your hard drive to "send" back to the manufacturer.  This cost money to do and does not always hold true to what they promise.  I would not trust a major retail chain to destroy my personal data, ever.  It would be wiser to just outright buy a new hard drive, pay to have your system restored than to take a risk and hand over your life's sensitive information.

So can data be destroyed?

There are a couple of methods that can be approached.

1: Be like the Department of Defense and only sell computer shells and totally shred the hard drive by grinding it into small pieces or E.M.P. the drive (Professionals Only).

2:  Reformat the hard drive after writing all zeros to the drive with  the manufacturer's software.

3:  Burn (melt) the platters with a torch or intense heat (Professionals Only).

4:  Drill huge holes in the platters. (Under adult supervision at the very least or a skilled operator of the drill)

5:  Shred your files with a software utility.

If we are reloading an operating system onto a computer for another user other than the current owner, we go with option number 2.  Other wise to destroy the data, we drill the life out of the platters, since we don't own a industrial grinder and a torch is a bit more dangerous than a drill bit.

If you use one of these methods above, it is at your sole risk and RCCS cannot/will not be responsible for any damage done to the hard drive or the person