Case Study - Data Destruction
Business Challenge
A major blue chip client recently asked for our help in providing a solution for the destruction, removal and recycling of 200 hard drive disks that contained highly confidential data.
N2S meet with the client IT director and discussed the various options that were available including data erasure, data destruction and data shredding which could be completed both on and off the client site. At the time of this initial review N2S also provided lockable cages in which the hard drives could be securely stored in advance of the agreed hard drive destruction solution.
From our discussions it was obvious the client was reluctant for the hard drives to be removed from site for destruction as the concern was that they could be at risk whilst being transported from their site to the N2S facility in advance of the destruction process. Although N2S is registered to both
ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 and fully comply with all aspects related to the secure transportation of Hard Drives it was felt that on this occasion the data was so highly sensitive the need to destroy on site was paramount.
An additional reason for onsite data shredding option was that this solution provided a definitive and visual confirmation that all hard drives had been destroyed in real time whilst also providing an audit trail through a certificate of destruction which could be shared with both their end client and any subsequent review.
The N2S Solution
N2S arrived at the client’s site, and made contact with the pre agreed on site client representative and parked at a pre-arranged location suitable for the collection of the 200 hard drives.
The hard drives were transferred in the sealed cages with “tamper evident” tags before being placed in the N2S vehicle. To maintain security, this operation took place within an area that had been cordoned off and access had been restricted to authorised personnel only.
In advance of the data destruction service the client invited the team and end customer to witness the data destruction which would help to demonstrate the commitment to managing all aspects of data confidentiality, professionally and with the utmost care.
Before destruction N2S scanned each hard drive to obtain their unique serial number, which were logged onto a Hard Drive Destruction certificate which is underpinned to ISO27001 and provides an audit trail of the actual destruction taking place. The resultant metal shreds from the hard drive were removed from site by N2S where the materials were sorted and weighed into components metals and fully recycled.
The client received a full report including certificate of hard drive destruction and a waste management notice for the component recycled metals providing a clear audit trail, demonstrating their commitment to both effective management of confidential data and IT waste recycling which forms part of the WEEE Governance.
Feedback
Both the customer and their end client were delighted with the N2S solution provided and the professional manner in which it was completed. In addition they were also pleased with the additional corporate PR opportunity that this activity provided which resulted in additional hard drives being identified by our client.
