Data Erasure

One of the most important parts of the data life cycle is the verifiable erasure of data. Many people are unaware that a file deleted from a laptop/pc is not actually fully deleted until its space on the hard disk has been overwritten and this file can be easily recovered using software freely available on the internet.

The following is an excerpt of an Irish Times article (July 3, 2009) detailing the results of an Ernst & Young study which had purchased hard disks on eBay:

A brand-name online payments company (disk purchased for €5.79 including P&P). Information recovered: 

- PPS numbers of staff and customers;
- Hundreds of customer bank account numbers and sort codes;
- Hundreds of Laser card numbers and expiry dates;
- Hundreds of credit card numbers and names;

A well-known Irish car dealership (disk purchased for €10.79 including P&P). Information recovered: 

- Bank account numbers;
- Customer names and addresses;
- Customer invoices and bank details;

As you can see proper erasure of data before disposal of hardware is vital to ensure that your confidential data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Our data erasure service offers the following options:

1. purchase the software and perform erasure yourself

2. have us perform the erasure onsite and provide you with the relevant certification of erasure

The softwares' certifications include but is not lmited to:

• NSM - (Certified version: Blancco - Data Cleaner+ 4.5, Blancco - Data Cleaner 3.3r7)
• DIPCOG - the Defence INFOSEC Product Co-Operation Group of the UK's Ministry (Certified version: Blancco - Data Cleaner 3.3r7)
• CESG (Certified verison: Blancco - Data Cleaner+ 4.8 HMG, Blancco - Data Cleaner 3.7r1)
• DCSSI (Central Information Systems Security Division under the authority of the French General Secretary for National Defence).
• USA DoD -
• NSTL
• NATO recommendation