Disposal of storage media: the Achilles' heel of information security

Published by: Ovum Plc

Published: May. 19, 2009 - 8 Pages

Table of Contents

Executive summary

Ovum view

Key messages

There is a real risk of information disclosure

USB sticks and smartphones magnify the problem

Do not trust service providers

Review outsourcing arrangements

Physical destruction of storage media is the ultimate assurance

There is a real risk of information disclosure

Sub-optimal investment in information security

Optimising return on investment

Protecting against the consequences of lost laptops

Leakage through disposal is ignored because it is not visible

Research into disc disposal

Measuring the scale of the problem

What researchers have discovered

Determined thieves could have gone further

The problem of blurring personal and business life

Information protection does not conflict with waste disposal regulations

USB sticks and smartphones magnify the problem

Transparency in outsourcing is essential

Review outsourcing arrangements

Do not trust resellers to clean the discs

How to deal with redundant storage media

The choice is yours!

Internal cascading

Charitable donations

One rewrite is good enough for most purposes

Consider physical destruction

Abstract

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