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Hard Drive Destruction

  • 13.7M
    Disk drives erased, certified and destroyed
  • 19.2M
    Parts recorded
    and processed
  • €1.75B
    Components recovered for reuse

Wisetek is your go-to destination for hard drive destruction. We offer a full suite of data destruction services, ranging from physical device destruction to degaussing and secure data erasure. Data can be incredibly hard to get rid of permanently, and a hard drive that has not been properly erased or destroyed poses a huge security risk to your company. Data can be recovered with the right skills and tools, unless it has been professionally destroyed by an expert like Wisetek.

Wisetek uses NSA-approved procedures and technology to ensure that your devices are securely destroyed. When choosing Wisetek as your hard drive recycling partner, you can rest assured that your data cannot be accessed by cybercriminals, and you can be sure that you will be in full compliance with the latest data protection guidelines.

Benefits of Wisetek’s Hard Drive Destruction Services

  • Hard drive destruction - Safety & Security icon

    Keep Your Data Safe From Hackers

    A data breach can be very costly and can even lead to financial ruin in some cases. However, this is not the only cost of a data breach, data leaks also lead to diminished customer trust in your business. Using a certified hard drive destruction service greatly reduces the risk of data leaks and damages to your company’s reputation.

  • Environment icon

    Take Care of the Environment

    Electronic waste cannot simply be dumped at the local landfill because they contain substances such as lead, zinc, and barium which are poisonous to humans and toxic to the environment. Our eStewards certification means that you can rely on us to dispose of your redundant IT equipment in an environmentally responsible way.

  • Get More From Your Investment

    Get More From Your Investment

    IT hardware is expensive and when the time comes to retire old equipment it is important to recoup as much of your investment as possible. Wisetek can use hard drive degaussing instead of physical hard drive destruction when appropriate to ensure that you get as much as possible back for your remarketed IT assets.

  • Customer Trust icon

    Maintain Customer Trust

    While it might be possible to recover from the immediate financial losses that can result from a data breach, recovering lost customer trust is not so easy. At Wisetek we understand how difficult it can be to earn the trust of your customers, so we make sure that you keep it by offering secure data destruction solutions.

  • Maintain Customer Trust

    DataDEAD, Beyond All Doubt

    Wisetek uses advanced technology to ensure that you are always in the know when it comes to your data. DataDEAD allows customers to monitor the entire data destruction process from start to finish so that there is no doubt as to the fate of condemned data. Wisetek can provide both video evidence and a full chain of custody for every destroyed hard drive.

  • Global Network icon

    Remarketing of Retired IT Assets

    Wisetek’s global footprint gives our customers access to a global IT asset remarketing network. By leveraging this market, we help our customers realise the highest possible ROI on their retired IT equipment. Remarketing is also more eco-friendly than other methods, which is great for your company’s green credentials.

Experts In

HARD DRIVE DESTRUCTION SERVICES

Degaussing

Degaussing refers to the process of using a powerful magnetic force to permanently scramble the data housed on a magnetic storage medium such as a hard drive. A professional hard drive degausser offers a high level of security and can destroy data without destroying the data storage medium. This makes degaussing a good option from a budgetary viewpoint.

hard drive destruction

Shredding

When there can be absolutely no doubt, hard drive shredding is the best option. Wisetek’s data shredding services can quickly and efficiently cut your data destruction problem down to size; between approximately 2” and 6”. While this method is one of the most secure methods available, it is also one of the most expensive because it destroys the storage medium.

hard drive destruction

Disintegration

Hard drives can be tough, but they are no match for Wisetek’s most secure hard drive disposal procedure. Wisetek can use industrial machines to crush hard drives and the data that they contain into dust-sized particles. After disintegration, both the storage medium and the data is completely useless. Disintegration is perfectly suited to highly classified data and newer storage mediums like SSDs.

hard drive destruction
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Hard Drive Destruction FAQs

How to Destroy a Hard Drive

Hard drives can be destroyed in a variety of ways. Some methods allow the storage medium to be re-used while others destroy it along with the data. It is important to choose an appropriate destruction method based on the sensitivity of the information contained on the hard drive. For example, hard drives that contain highly classified data should always be destroyed physically but drives that contain less sensitive information can be degaussed or erased with specialised software.

  • Some of the methods that Wisetek uses to destroy data includes:
  • Hard Drive Degaussing
  • Hard Drive Shredding
  • Hard Drive Disintegration

Can Shredded Hard Drives be Recycled?

Yes, in fact, shredding is the best way to get easy access to the recyclable components that hard drives contain. Hard drives contain many rare metals and other materials such as copper and aluminium that must be separated from each other before recycling. Shredding of hard drives is an excellent way for businesses to minimise the environmental impact that their IT systems have on the environment, and it keeps data 100% secure.

What Part of a Hard Drive Must Be Destroyed to Render it Useless?

This differs from manufacturer to manufacturer and is also dependent on the storage media type. For hard disc drives, the platter must be destroyed. This is a time-consuming job and destroying the drive-by shredding is far quicker and more reliable. From an economical viewpoint, it is often not financially viable for a company to use manual destruction methods.

Can Digitally Shredded Files be Recovered?

Many applications claim to delete files permanently or securely from hard discs, but the reality is that they often fail to do so. In many cases “digitally shredded” files can be recovered by anyone who possesses some IT knowledge and the right software tools. Instead of gambling with the security of your business data, entrust your corporate IT equipment recycling needs to Wisetek.

Is Physical Hard Drive Shredding Secure?

Physical shredding of a hard drive is, in most cases, completely secure. The most important consideration is that the shredded pieces must be as small as possible to avoid the possibility of reconstructing the drive. Wisetek can shred hard drives into pieces that are so small that reconstructing the drive would be completely impossible.

Are Deleted Files Ever Really Gone?

The short answer is NO. Simply deleting a file does not constitute data destruction. Deleted files can be recovered relatively easily by anyone with patience and some IT knowledge. For this reason, Wisetek uses special software that completely overwrites the data on a hard drive making it impossible to retrieve

Can a Standard Magnet Be Used To Destroy a Hard Drive?

It is highly unlikely that any standard magnet would be powerful enough to properly destroy a hard drive. Wisetek uses powerful magnets that have been developed especially for degaussing machines. Degaussers can destroy the data on magnetic storage media, but they are not suitable for use with other media types like SSDs and USB flash drives.

Except For Shredding, Are There Any Other Ways To Destroy Hard Drives?

Yes, there are quite a few alternatives available but most of these methods are not as reliable as shredding and they require too much manual labour to be cost-effective. Some alternatives to shredding include manual crushing with heavy hammers and even acid melting.

Can Shredders Destroy Any Data Storage Medium?

Yes, since data shredding physically shreds the storage medium into tiny pieces it can be used for any type of storage device. Once a hard drive, SSD, or flash drive has been shredded it can never be used again and the data on it is permanently destroyed.

Contact Wisetek Today

Does your company have hard drives that have reached the end of their useful life? Contact Wisetek today to discuss hard drive destruction options. We are your local ITAD (IT asset disposition) specialist in Ireland, and the EU.

 

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