Destroying hard disk drives

12 September 2017

Q. Does GPIT have any guidance on what certification a company shredding/wiping hard drives needs to have?

A. We have about 10 machines left over from our last change of hardware. Recently, the Data Protection Commissioner released a report of breaches involving same, so I want to do this by the book. It is always a good idea to shred the hard drives, and physical methods of destruction are best. There is a body known as NAID, National Association for Information Destruction, Inc, that recommends companies. Please see http://directory.naidonline.org It looks like there are three vendors in the Dublin area. GPIT does not recommend products or services, but the information above may be helpful to you in choosing a company. To be totally safe, you need to be present when your hard drives are destroyed. Some of the mobile destruction services facilitate this.