When a drive is retired, sold on or has given up everything it can, data that's stored on it will continue to exist until it has been properly destroyed and cannot be recovered. As such, we are able to securely erase our customers' data from their old hard drives and SSDs using the same forensic-grade tools that we use to retrieve data. These include overwriting each sector on the drive, then verifying the results via our forensic-grade verification tools. Once this process has taken place, we issue a certification document to verify that your data has indeed been completely erased. At the end of the process, the drive is returned to you as a completely blank device ready for reuse; the data does not come back at all. Based in Edinburgh, we handle hard drive destruction Scotland-wide, offering secure data destruction Scotland businesses can rely on, with physical shredding, degaussing and a certificate of destruction for your records.
All drives are completely erased, then re-read and tested to confirm there is no recoverable information before a certificate of erasure can be issued.
True erasure is much more than a "quick-format" or simply dragging a file to the bin: both of these methods will leave the data sitting on the platter until someone in a forensics laboratory like ours comes along and reads it off. Forensic erasure overwrites all sectors that are addressable on the drive, and then runs a verification test to confirm that there is no readable material left. The hardware and software used for forensic erasure are identical to what we have available for forensic recovery; they just point in the opposite direction. The method used follows the recognised standards for data sanitisation (NIST 800-88). When completed, the drive has been cleaned, contains no data, and cannot be recovered using either our equipment or anyone else's.
A verified overwrite of a spinning hard drive does, in fact, erase: all the magnetic data that was there gets replaced with new data. However, for SSDs and flash memory chips, the situation changes. The controller in these devices maps out the locations where the information will be stored (using unused “spare” locations when needed), and it does this by invisibly “remapping” areas of the storage. Therefore, if you perform a simple overwrite on your data, it’s possible to still have whole areas from before left alone behind the scenes, appearing as though everything has been erased when it has not. So instead of simply overwriting data, on solid-state drives we use a controller-level secure erase or cryptographic erase, which clears the mapping and the cells the drive is actually using. Knowing which method a given device needs is the whole job; getting it wrong is how ‘destroyed’ data turns up on a resold laptop.
The majority of all jobs are created from the need to remove or replace old drives, computers, laptops or servers under GDPR and provide evidence that the data has been removed; dispose of equipment that is to be resold, donated or recycled; clear out end-of-project materials for a business; or simply wipe a drive that was brought in for recovery and now needs to leave permanently dead. We accept only drives, not complete systems. Take them out of the laptops, PCs or servers, get a quote first, either over the telephone or using our online quotation form, and then send them to us by insured post or drop them off at our premises at South Gyle, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed. We do not offer collection services. A certificate of erasure is issued for each drive submitted to us, detailing the serial number, method used and date of erasure, for your audit trail purposes and those of your auditors. As verified erasure means the media remains functional, it is less expensive and more environmentally friendly than shredding the media, whilst the data remains just as unrecoverable. Where one of our clients requires physical destruction of their media, we will advise on the most suitable course of action. This service operates from the same bench as our forensic recovery work, but at the opposite end.
On a hard drive, yes: overwriting data with a verified overwrite will replace the original data, and you cannot retrieve it because it was overwritten completely. On an SSD, we use the controller of the SSD for a secure erase (which has its own method, other than a surface pass), and either way we read back the entire drive prior to issuing your certificate to ensure that all data is unrecoverable. We do not certify what we have not verified.
Yes. Each time a drive is removed from service, a certificate of erasure that lists the drive's serial number, the method used for erasure and the date of erasure is prepared as part of the documentation expected by data-protection audits as evidence of proper disposal of hardware at the end of its useful life.
Sometimes. If the drive can be accessed long enough to perform a secure erase, we do so and verify it. If the electrical or mechanical components have deteriorated too far to erase safely in place, then overwriting data is not feasible. In those cases, physical destruction of the media is our honest option, and we will tell you which applies and why rather than issue a certificate that we cannot stand behind.