VWB Blog Almost no business gets by without using at least one computer. If nothing else, you need them for things like monitoring your website, creating invoices, or dealing with inventory. Yet, the average desktop PC lasts only about five years, give or take.
The same holds for laptops and servers, depending on upgrades and overall usage. Once these devices tap out, though, they still hold a lot of sensitive information about you, your business, or your customers.
That’s where data erasure services become important. Keep reading for some key ways that data erasure helps protect your data and your business.
What Is Data Erasure?
Even with disk wiping software, it’s often possible for people to retrieve data from drives. Data erasure services, such as www.certus.software/en/itad/, take those drives and put them through multiple erasure processes with data erasure software. Typically, they will also physically destroy the drives as well.
These processes work for multiple types of data storage devices and even mobile devices. That eliminates any chance that a criminal can get any information off of the drives. So, how does this protect your business?
Avoid Customer Blowback
One of the biggest threats in terms of data security is the exposure of customer information. This can leave your business open for a civil action by your customers. If enough data gets exposed, you can find yourself on the receiving end of a class-action lawsuit.
Even if you don’t get sued, the bad press and loss of customer faith can destroy your business through raw attrition. New customers stop coming in and old customers abandon you for options that look safer.
Avoid Governmental Action
Lots of businesses deal with confidential information at some level. For example, health and financial data have federal regulations around them. Some businesses also deal with confidential governmental projects.
Losing control of that kind of data can open you and your business up for anything from fines to potential criminal charges against you.
Avoid Loss of Competitive Advantage
You may also deal with trade secrets, such as chemical formulas, that you don’t want exposed. Exposure of that kind of in-house information can erode your competitive advantage in the marketplace.
If you have an upcoming business deal, exposure can also tank a deal like that.
If you lose that advantage, it can mean a substantial loss of revenue. If you have investors, it can also cause them to lose faith in your business and sell off your stock.
Data Erasure Protects You
Data erasure protects your business on multiple levels. It helps keep you safe from customer backlash by keeping their data secure.
It protects you from governmental action by ensuring you don’t lose control of federally protected data or classified information. That keeps you clear of fines or potential criminal actions.
Data erasure also helps ensure that you don’t lose your competitive advantage by accidentally exposing trade secrets.
Looking for more tips? Check out some of our other business and technology blog posts.