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Many enterprises are aware of the issues behind IT asset disposition; however, there are quite a few that continue to place their assets in storage and/or throw hardware away with the regular trash. There are safer ways to dispose of assets, and a disposition service provider can help you rid hardware of all sensitive data before you send the devices on their way.
Gavin Manes, president and CEO at digital forensics company Avansic (www.avansic.com), says an enterprise should have a plan in place for disposing of IT hardware it no longer needs. Such a plan will ensure sensitive information does not leave the enterprise along with the hardware, and it will ensure assets are disposed of or recycled in compliance with state mandates. Many states have enacted laws that dictate how people should dispose of computers, monitors, and other electronic waste. “The laws about e-waste grow considerably each year,” says Cliffie McKay, director of operations at DMD Systems Recovery (www.dmdsystems.com), an IT asset disposition firm. Enterprise disposition plans should detail working with professional firms to dispose of items an enterprise no longer uses. These firms are familiar with a state’s laws and can take care of the hauling and the disposition, whether that means destroying the hardware or wiping it of all contents and recycling it in compliance with state mandates. A good firm will provide proof that it disposed of assets in a lawful manner and that it wiped hard drives of all information, McKay says. Disposition plans that recycle hardware will cost less than those that fully destroy the units and may compensate enterprises for their electronics, letting you recoup some expense for the initial assets, says Brian Musil, founder of Recycle Your Media (recycleyourmedia.com). WHAT TO LOOK FOR When searching for an asset disposition firm, enterprise executives should determine whether they want their hardware recycled or destroyed. Hard drives and other hardware are cleared of all information before the machine is recycled or disposed of, McKay says. Consider that recycling keeps harmful metals and other solid waste from the waste stream, he adds. Firms that recycle materials usually refurbish the hardware and resell it on their company’s Web site, eBay, or other reseller sites. They also may reuse individual components and sell some and recycle others in an acceptable manner. Many recycling firms will wipe assets before removing the hardware from the enterprise site or upon returning to the firm, depending on need. No matter where this procedure occurs, the firm should provide evidence that it has cleared all data from your hardware. When researching a firm, be sure to ask for references and look at the firm’s certifications. A firm should comply with standards within the ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 families of standards, McKay explains. The former standards ensure environmental management systems minimize environmental impact. The ISO 9000 standards ensure the firm reuses all parts to the best of its ability, McKay says. If you request that hard drives be recycled, the data asset disposition firm should follow the requirements of DOD-5220.22-M, which involves wiping data a maximum of three times. Sondra Padalecki, senior solutions architect at WorldWide TechServices, explains that software that overwrites the hard drive is used to wipe the drive, rendering the data unreadable. Drives that will not be recycled should be degaussed or smelted, which offers a complete destruction method, she says. The firm should provide a certificate of destruction for each IT asset, and the certificate should be tied to the serial number of the destroyed hardware. You should receive a report of all destruction activities, as well. Some firms will scan the asset and include a screenshot with the report and certification to further attest the data has been adequately wiped before recycling, Musil explains. Many firms may also choose to provide photographic evidence via security camera footage tied to asset serial numbers—verifying that the material has been erased, McKay explains. “All of that can be worked out ahead of time in the contract,” he says. “For instance, it would cost more to dispose of or wipe materials onsite than in our warehouse.” NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION After a firm cleans and disposes of an enterprise’s lot in the agreed-upon method, it should send out a report that includes the serial number, manufacturer, description, and condition of each item you turned over to the disposition firm. The report will detail whether the unit was wiped or destroyed. In the event the material is slated for recycling, the report will also include problems the firm found, such as a laptop with a cracked screen originally intended for resell but properly recycled into the waste stream instead. When looking for a disposition firm, you may also want to check whether it complies with EPA-drafted R2 (responsible Recycling) practices. These were drafted to help enterprises find reliable and responsible disposition firms, explains McKay. It includes 13 general principles and practices for electronics recyclers to follow. You may also want to consider a firm that can inventory materials for disposition should you not have the inventory ready to go. “Say all the regional offices send their stuff to corporate; there’s a lot of work in scanning and inventorying everything and there’s an expense in that,” Musil says. “You can call vendors that can go to your facility, inventory it for you, audit the value, and tell you the value.” Usually, you can quickly find a good disposition firm, and the inventory is easily cleared, Musil adds. The relief you feel from getting old electronics off your hands in a safe and legal manner is worth the effort. |
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