Infosecurity Europe demands end-of-life data wiping
1 min read
Commenting on Osirium research, which suggests that large numbers of UK firms are failing to ensure that confidential data is destroyed when their IT equipment reaches the end of its working life, Infosecurity Europe is calling for security education.
Claire Sellick, Infosecurity Europe's event director, says that, with 40% of organisations reporting they are not confident that all their data is deleted before disposal of computers, it is clear that something needs to be done.
"As well as being unwise, businesses are almost certainly in breach of the Data Protection Act, which mandates that companies look after customer and personal data," warns Sellick.
"This research data also confirms a study reported by Computer Aid International, which found that a third of major businesses have decommissioned computers containing data that are completely unaccounted for," she adds.
That charity's research found that 39% of the UK's largest companies do not data wipe their unwanted PCs and 57% could not account for all their redundant PCs.
What was interesting about that research, as Sellick observes, is that, although 68% of respondents said that data security was their primary concern when decommissioning computers, only 61% actually wipe all the data.
Both sets of research, she adds, point to the fact that a sizeable minority of managers are unaware of the reasons why they need to delete data from end-of-life computers, t.
"Our own observations at Infosecurity Europe are that, once IT professionals understand why they need to protect their data, they will take the necessary action. In addition, when they learn about the need, they will pass on their understanding when they get back to their offices," she says.
