Most companies don’t wipe copier hard drives
May 25, 2010 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security
Recent news reports highlight the dangers copier hard drives pose to information security. What are businesses doing to protect sensitive data that’s copied?
Not much, according to a recent survey.
Despite the dangers of releasing copiers into the wild after they’ve been used to scan sensitive documents (which we covered previously here), 68% of companies don’t wipe data from copy machines when they’re decommissioned, according to a TechRepublic poll.
Most modern copiers and multifunctional printers have hard drives that store documents before they’re printed out — and can store the images until someone actively deletes them.
That means many copiers are re-sold or re-leased with sensitive documents stored, available to anyone with the means to extract them.
What are your options for wiping that data? Of the businesses polled that do erase copier hard drives, they did so using
- internal staff
- a service from the copier dealer or leasing company
- a built-in feature on the copier, and
- a third-party service.
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Tags: copiers, data security, drives, TechRepublic
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May 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
The hazard of copiers hard drives is out there now but little has been said on the cost to wipe out the hard drives or what programs or services are available to handle this before disposal. I and many other I am sure are interested can anybody offer advice?
May 26th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Copier HDD security is the focus of the media today. Every one wants to know about the stuff they made copies of, printed or faxed over the term of the lease. They’ll pay extra to get data wipe on the copier. In the mean time, they donate their old PC’s to charity, or pile them in the dumpster without a second thought. They will send plain text emails all over the world through who knows how many servers to be stored on how many hard drives controlled entirely by external entities, without a second thought. They will use an on-line data backup, web servers, or document management systems without questioning what the night shift guy at the data center spends all his time reading.
Its not that MFP security is unimportant, but it is nowhere near as big a risk as other more mundane security risks. MFP hard drive security is just the panic of the day.
June 2nd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
I’m also frustrated, like Harvey. We are ending a lease on a copier and not getting another one to replace it. So, naturally, the company we must return it to gives us very little to go on: “For your convenience, please reference Department of Defense 5220.22M standard which is a widely accepted method of expunging data from magnetic media.” I skimmed through that particular document but could not really find anything that outlined the process.
By the way, we do destroy hard drives on our PCs before donating or tossing them. As an agency that provides health-related services, it’s a must.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Hi guys, my company, JJ Bender, is actually one of the FEW out there who offers the service of erasing copier and printer hard drives. It’s not my department, but if you call and say you’re interested in erasing your hard drive, they can definitely help point you in the right direction (number is 203-336-4034)! Hope this helps!