What Santa Can Teach You About Hard Drive Shredding

 

santa claus sitting on a chair and waving to the camera

When it comes to the holiday season, there are two diametrically opposed ways to view it. The first is with the childlike, wide-eyed innocence of youth, delighting in the songs and decorations that only show up during this specific time of year. The second is tempered by the knowledge that comes from growing up, the worry about bills and gatherings, and perhaps even disdain for the commercialization of what used to be simple to understand.

Neither of these views is necessarily wrong; both have their merits. It’s when you can find a balance between the two that you get an idea of what Santa Claus himself might think, and you can use this harmony to guide the decisions you make about life, business, and even hard-drive shredding.

Yes, you read that right. Santa Claus has long been heralded as a personification of the holiday season, but believe it or not, there are plenty of lessons he can teach you that hold true for the rest of the year. Specifically, we’re going to talk about hard drive shredding, and how you can take a page out of Santa’s storybook to make smart choices for your digital data.

Think it’s Deleted? Better Check It Twice

In stories and poems, Santa Claus is known for being a fastidious planner. He never assumes anything is one way or the other. He always does his due diligence to confirm that it really is so before moving on. Unfortunately, few of us carry this guiding principle into our own lives. We’re used to making snap judgments, to assuming that a thing we already trust or assume we know well will function as it’s supposed to. This is especially dangerous when it comes to protecting our digital information.

Let’s say you’re getting ready to decommission an old hard drive from use. What do you do with the files it contains? If you’re like most people, you drag them over to the recycling bin on your computer and hit Empty. If you’re technically savvy, you might even format the hard drive back to its factory condition.

Neither of these is enough to erase your information. The nature of digital magnetic storage is such that an imprint of your information remains permanently on your hard drive. If you don’t follow Santa’s lead and double-check, you could be sending a complete copy of confidential or personal information out into the world, and that’s where we come to our next point. Hard drive destruction eliminates any chance that your information could be retrieved, since it renders the storage system permanently inaccessible.

Do You Know Who’s Naughty or Nice?

We don’t have the same advantage of Santa’s knowledge of who’s naughty or nice. He tends to assume the best of everyone until they prove him wrong, but when it comes to your information, you must be more cautious. You don’t know if the person you’re selling your old phone or computer to will simply use it as their own, or if they have more nefarious intentions. With the right know-how, anyone can retrieve your information from a hard drive or electronic media device.

In fact, a McAfee employee did exactly that. To test a theory, Robert Siciliano bought 30 different smart devices that their owners thought had been erased. He was able to retrieve personally identifiable information (PII) like Social Security Numbers, photos, and credit card information, from about half of them.

Luckily for their owners, Siciliano was on the nice list – but the person who wants to buy your old phone or computer might not be.

Choose the Right Reindeer for Your Hard-Drive Shredding Team

When Santa chose Rudolph to join his team of reindeer, it was because Rudolph could do something that no other deer could do, and Santa understood the value of making sure he had exactly the right members for his team. To protect your digital data, you need a special member of your team who has the know-how and the ability to safely destroy your e-media. Hard drive shredding remains the only way to be 100% sure that your data can never be recovered, no matter how skilled the thief may be. Fortunately, you’ve already found your Rudolph.

A-1 Arizona is AAA Certified by the National Association for Information Destruction, which means we’ve met or exceeded the latest standards for privacy protection and secure paper and e-media destruction. We have the specialized equipment required to make quick work of everything from computer hard drives to CDs, VHS tapes, flash drives, smartphones, and even floppy disks.

Plus, we make sure to recycle each and every particle from every electronic device we destroy, keeping harsh chemicals and metals out of the local soil and water supply. Sure, we want to stay on Santa’s nice list, but we’re also committed to doing the best for both our customers and our community – and that’s something we’re proud to show off this season.

If you’d like to learn more about hard drive shredding or our electronic media destruction services, give us a call at (602) 759-5103. You can also send us a message online.

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