CyberCrunch™ News: Advice on safe, secure data destruction and electronic recycling
Welcome to our monthly newsletter, designed to help organizations avoid data breaches and responsibly recycle hardware.
This month, we look at the latest data breach to hit the aviation industry, which has affected an astonishing 9.5 million passengers. We’ll discuss the importance of data destruction to help avoid breaches such as this.
We’d like to proudly announce that were nominated as one of the Top Ten Solution Providers of the Year by Pittsburgh Technology Council. It was a great achievement to be selected and told we were demonstrating that there is exceptional work being done in the data destruction and electronics recycling industry.
This winter, we’ll also be giving away an iPad to schools that recycle responsibly.
Data hack hits 9.5 million airplane passengers
Business owners are again being warning about the importance of data security after the personal information of up to 9.5 million airplane passengers were leaked.
In May, Cathay Pacific discovered a breach following suspicious activity on its network in March. It would not share who was responsible for the breach or why it was not announced sooner.
Cathay Pacific said that passport numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, passport and government ID and expired credit card details were among the data that was accessed.
Shares in the company plummeted following this announcement.
Are organizations destroying their data?
Data breaches in organizations are now more prevalent than ever. Without taking proper precautions, business owners may not know they’ve fallen victim to a cyber attack until it’s too late.
Cathay Pacific is only the latest aviation organization to be hit by a data breach. Recently, British Airways also said hackers managed stole data from many thousands of customers.
Air Canada and Delta Airlines also suffered data breaches were customers details were exposed because of cyber attacks.
Most organizations have sensitive data passing through their workforce every passing hour, and often also accessed through mobile devices.
Data lifecycle management is essential because as your data is stored and transported, you run the risk of it being compromised. Personal information needs to be destroyed once it’s been used, on all hardware. This is essentially important given the recent increase in data regulation laws.
Modern businesses owners may have strong technology to safeguard against these threats but organizations and consumers often ignore data destruction.
How to effectively destroy data
Data destruction is the process of permanently erasing data from data storage devices like hard drives, memory cards, smartphones and other mobile devices.
But destroying these devices on your own may still run the risk of your data being retrieved and used maliciously. Data destruction is becoming more difficult as solid state drives require advanced destruction techniques. Simple processes like DOD overwrites are not sufficient and compliant.
One of the most effective and environmentally friendly ways to destroy these devices is to use a company that specializes in data destruction. Not only is an easier option but it also shows that you followed industry best practices when eradicating your data, so there will be no legal issues.
At CyberCrunch™, we provide permanent data destruction and recycling solutions to keep your company’s private information safe in an eco-friendly manner.
Our IT asset disposition (ITAD) services provide secure erasure before assets are remarketed, donated or destroyed. With our extensive experience in the industry, familiarity with regulatory and governmental policies, we can help your destroy your data, quickly and efficiently.
Schools that recycle responsibly could win a special prize
CyberCrunch™ is looking to make it a happy holiday season for a select few schools
The digital divide is growing. There are still many children and families in our area that do not have regular access to a computer.
What CyberCrunch™ is doing? This winter CyberCrunch™ will be giving an IPad away to schools choosing to recycle responsibly – a win-win for both the environment and community.
