Secure IT Asset Disposal: A Critical Need for Government Organizations

The Importance of Government Data Security

Data is the most valued digital resource today. Every day, a large amount of both personal and specialized information passes through electronic systems. And the agency that handles the most data is the government, with massive amounts of sensitive and classified data being processed. Therefore, responsible and secure IT Asset disposal for government needs experience, technical knowledge, and a complete system. And having such systems in place is very important for government agencies.

All government entities are equally at risk for security breaches. And since many departments are connected, a security threat in one could also mean a threat in another. This makes secure IT Asset disposal for government organizations an immediate need. Any data leakage from a device would mean exposing sensitive information of an entire country's citizens. Data sensitivity levels are so high that no less than permanent and secure classified data destruction can be chosen for complete data security.

Secure Data Disposal: A Necessary Part of the Data Lifecycle

One would think that top government agencies are hard to hack into, but cases like the 2020 United States federal government data breach prove it's not. With cases like these, data protection for government organizations becomes immediate as even the government facilities can be breached. Also, when government data leaves the facility for disposal, it becomes highly risky.

Government organizations must make provisions to ensure that every hardware not in use is being wiped or physically destroyed with documented proof of sanitization. Additionally, proper care should be taken to ensure that the data in organizational hardware is secured throughout the data lifecycle from acquisition to sanitization. Secure data disposal ensures that no data trace is left, making it impossible to hack, as even if security is broken, hackers will have no data-trace to access.

Data Destruction in Government Organizations

Different forms of data have different data destruction requirements. All physical data, like paper reports, are physically destroyed. If the report is classified or top secret, NSA standards must be met for destruction. Classified data destruction requires the paper to be shredded through an NSA-approved device. The destruction standards are slightly more forgiving if the paper report contains unclassified information.

The classified data destruction gets harder when it comes to digital media. Currently, many government agencies operate on a physical destruction policy. However, this is not only ineffective but also an expensive method. Physical destruction involves the cost of destroying the drives with the added expense of replacing the old drives with new ones.

In addition, government organizations could save millions by recycling and reusing storage drives instead of destroying hardware to protect sensitive data. Software-based erasure and device reuse also helps reduce e-waste and promotes the cause of a circular economy and a sustainable planet.

Secure IT Asset Disposal For Government (NIST SP 800-88)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines require organizations, including the government, to practice secure data erasure while getting rid of old digital media to reduce cybersecurity risks and prevent data leakage. The NIST SP 800-88 guidelines are widely followed by the US government and act as a standard to drive their media sanitization programs with defined techniques and control mechanisms for sanitization, disposal, reuse, or migration of media and information. In addition, government bodies like the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also tell practitioners to use the NIST 800-88 standard. Therefore, meeting the NIST SP 800-88 guidelines is the best way to ensure that sensitive government data can be wiped in compliance with global standards of data destruction and ensure data security.

Secure IT Asset disposal for government organizations depends on two things:

• Whether the media will be reused
• Whether the storage device will leave the organization's control

The answer to both questions will decide how the organization will do data erasure. The NIST standard has 3 methods that may be used for classified data destruction:

Keeping the storage device under the organization's control is one of the safest ways to protect from data theft. In these cases, in-house software for data erasure or onsite data destruction is the most efficient for cost and safety. When the storage device leaves the organization for disposal, the best practice is to permanently sanitize these devices and drives before leaving government buildings to ensure data security and prevent any data leakage.

Erase Data First, Onsite and Under Supervision

The first step when recycling a device should always be data destruction. And preferably, this destruction must happen onsite, if resources allow. Here are some guidelines for government organizations intending to reuse a device:

How D-Secure Data Eraser Can Protect Sensitive Data

To protect sensitive data and follow international data protection laws, every government organization needs to ensure that confidential information no longer needed is wiped permanently from all storage devices. Whether the government agency needs to reuse the device or destroy the drives and devices, the primary action to be done is secure data sanitization.

D-Secure is a professional data wiping tool that guarantees data erasure beyond recovery using international erasure standards, including NIST 800-88. The certified tool works effectively on networked and off-grid storage media, with the ability to erase/diagnose multiple devices at the same time. Following the principle of Erase, Verify and Certify, the NIST-approved D-Secure drive eraser software gives you complete control of permanent erasure with verification of every wipe performed.

This advanced software with the ability to make data retrieval impossible even in a laboratory setting is an ideal solution for secure IT asset disposal for government organizations.