Data is the life line of any organization and hence it is important that it be kept safe and secure during its entire life span. However, the life span of data is not eternal and hence there comes the right time when it has to be disposed of. The same way security is vital in the lifespan of the data, it is equally important in the destruction of the same data and hence the manner in which the data is destroyed has to be secure. The reason here is to avoid any accidental or malicious leaking of sensitive data in to the wrong hands.
But what are the benefits and importance of such a process? Why should a company spend its money engaging the services of a data destruction company? Read on to find the benefits.
A tidy environment
Paper is one of the most common media of capturing data. Additionally, it is one of the most common ways of transferring it especially within an organizational setting. This situation is compounded by the fact that there are legal regulations that require that transaction details such as receipts be kept for a certain number of years (for taxation purposes) before being destroyed. This means that organizations will always find themselves with some piles of paper.
When the data on this physical media is destroyed, the environment is kept tidy. Additionally, other electronic media of storing data can still become an environmental nuisance. Storing a pile of CDs and hard drives is not a beautiful scene to behold, let alone the fact that they occupy precious office space.
Space is optimized
From the previous point, we saw that some legal requirements dictate that paper data needs to be stored from a specified number of years before it can be destroyed. All this means that the hills of paper occupy precious space in the office that can be used to do other things. With all these heaps being destroyed alongside the data, you get some extra space to perform other functions.
Customer safety
One of the greatest threats of storing sensitive information that has outlived its utility is that malicious fellows can grab it. For instance, if sensitive credit details are accessed wrongfully and maliciously, they can be used to steal money from customers. This can present very serious credibility challenges to a company and additionally, it may raise legal challenges from those customers who have been victimized.
Security
Another benefit of secure data destruction is overall security of a company’s data. This means that fraudsters will not have access to sensitive data and use it for whatever malicious reasons that they may choose.