EOL hammers hard drive destruction advice

Maldon-based IT refurbishment firm EOL IT Services has branded a Which? Computing magazine study as irresponsible and environmentally unfriendly, because it advocates people taking a hammer to their hard drives to destroy information on deleted files. Says managing director Richard Parker: “This advice and information, which has unfortunately been repeated on the BBC website, is wrong. As we have proved with over a decade of working with some of the world’s top financial institutions, there are reliable and environmentally-friendly ways of removing data and stopping the fraudsters.” Which? Computing magazine claims it recovered 22,000 ‘deleted’ files from eight computers purchased on eBay and editor Sarah Kidner says: “Such information could bring identity thieves a hefty payday. It sounds extreme, but the only way to be 100% safe is to smash your hard drive into smithereens.” However, Parker says: “Physical destruction – which can cause injury if not carried out properly – still leaves fragments from which data can be retrieved. It also poses an environmental risk. Environmentally, it has to be far better to re-use hard drives and this can be safely done if the data has been overwritten. “People also make the mistake of using free or cheap software to attempt to wipe data, but this is normally substandard and some data is likely to be left.” EOL says it uses government-approved data-wiping software and that PCs do not even have to be dismantled. EOL declared war on data and identity theft last year, with a free online guide aimed at reducing data theft. It is downloadable free from www.eolitservices.co.uk