Did you know that 75% of companies say a data breach has caused material disruption to business processes? Every company should have a plan to prevent data breaches and keep important information safe.
Part of that plan should include the use of data erasure software.
Not sure what this means or if you need it? Keep reading to learn its importance.
What Is Data Erasure?
Data erasure is an acceptable method for achieving data sanitization. Data erasure software involves securely overwriting digitally stored information.
It uses random binary data to complete this. Once the process is complete, the process is verified to ensure that data has been successfully erased.
IT assets use data erasure software in active and inactive environments. You can use this software on servers, mobile devices, laptops, computers, and loose drives.
Data erasure is becoming popular in cloud environments as well. You can learn more about that at https://www.certus.software/en/solutions/.
Types of Data Sanitization
It’s important to know that different data sanitization methods are confused with data erasure.
Incomplete data sanitization methods cannot render data on storage devices as unrecoverable. They don’t include the verification and certification steps that data erasure software uses.
The incomplete data sanitation methods include:
- Data wiping
- Data deletion
- Reformatting
- File shredding
- Factory reset
If you want complete data destruction, avoid these incomplete methods. Securing data is best done with data erasure.
Why Is Data Erasure Important?
True data erasure is essential for businesses that want to guard their data against vulnerabilities. This method of data security helps organizations comply with numerous data protection regulations as well.
Typical file deletion commands don’t get rid of data completely. Instead, they remove pointers to the disk sectors where the data resides.
“Deleted” data can be easily recovered by the wrong parties.
Proper data sanitization methods can be applied to the right devices. Remote erasure can also help if you have assets that are further away from IT technicians.
With data erasure, organizations can verify irrecoverable data. Tamper-proof certificates ensure compliance with data protection regulations and are offered by software programs.
What Data Should You Erase?
Knowing your data erasure options can help with different types of data. The most common business data types are:
- Customer data
- Employee data
- Corporate data
Customer data includes personally identifiable information (PII). Businesses have a responsibility to protect customer data and delete it for good when they no longer need it.
Employee data includes the same data as customer data along with performance reviews and salary. Corporate data includes marketing information, intellectual property, financial results, and much more.
All of these data types should be erased through data sanitization when it’s no longer needed.
Do You Need Data Erasure Software?
Every business can benefit from data erasure software. Holding onto customer, employee, and corporate data is only asking for trouble.
To ensure you are compliant with data regulations and data security, you need data sanitization services. This is the only sure way to delete data that you no longer should be holding.
For more informative articles for businesses, check out the other posts on our website.
