All You Need to Know About Computer Shredding

If you are thinking about selling your old desktop or laptop, then just erasing your personal data from the drives is not enough. All your personal data like; bank details, your documents, social media accounts and photographs, can be retrieved if it falls into the wrong hands. Hackers only need simple hacking software and 10 minutes on your device to retrieve all your personal data and use that information to harm you.

This is where computer shredding comes in to save the day. Computer shredding permanently destroys all your previous data and makes your digital activity untraceable. Continue reading, as we tell you all that you need to know about computer shredding.

What is Computer Shredding?

Computer shredding is the process of permanently destroying all the data on your computer, regardless of the file type and storage location. There are two ways in which the data on your computer is erased for good:

1. Hard Drive Destruction

A hard drive destruction software is used to permanently delete all the data from the hard drives. This is also referred to as data cleaning or data sanitization. In this case, the hard drive can be reused to store new data after wiping clean the old data. But because the data recovery software is becoming more advanced each day, there is a possibility that even after permanently deleting the data on your hard drives, someone can still retrieve it by using advanced data recovery software.

2. Physical Shredding

The data on your computer is permanently destroyed by physically breaking your computer into small pieces. After this physical shredding, your data can never be restored or recovered. This is a good option if your computer is so old that you would rather break it than sell it. However, if you intend on selling your computer, then you should only opt for hard drive shredding. It will permanently destroy only the hard drive of your computer, keeping the remaining parts of your computer intact. A new hard drive can be installed on your computer before reselling it.

It is important to note that in case of physically shredding your computer, the companies that offer a computer shredding service are required to give you a certificate as proof of the destruction of your personal data. Professional shredding services are General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant and are authorized to destroy your personal data. Therefore, you can rest assured that as your data is being shredded, it will not fall into the wrong hands.

Why Should I Shred My Computer?

If your personal data or your work-related sensitive information is accessed by people with bad intentions, it could jeopardize your personal and professional life. We use our computers for storing, creating and accessing millions of webpages, documents, images, videos, applications and software. All our data is stored in the hard drives of our computer.

It often includes our financial records, our personal details, the details of our family and friends, our confidential documents and other classified data that we don’t normally find on public domains.

Hackers can use this data to harm our reputation, steal our money, attack our family and friends, and to target our companies. Therefore, to protect yourself from unwanted harm, it is always recommended that you shred your computer before disposing or reselling it.

How Does It Work?

The computer device, desktop, laptop or just the hard drive, is taken to an off-site shredding ground. All the scrap devices are gathered in one place, and large shredding machines are used to completely break the devices into small pieces that are 6mm in size. Through their sophisticated churning action, these large shredders are able to destroy up to 1000 hard drives per day. All the waste material is then collected and sent to recycling plants.

Where Can I Shred My Computer?

If you are thinking about destroying the personal and sensitive data on your computer, then New Jersey Shredding can assist you in your computer shredding process. Just get in touch with us here and let the experts handle the rest.