Data is a significant asset for any company. It is essential to protect it from harm. keeping it private is essential. Data must be properly stored properly, secured, and destroyed in a responsible manner. Data breaches and theft are among the most significant dangers that your company faces in the present.
The process of data destruction is crucial to ensure that your data is secure and safe. The process involves eliminating information that is not required anymore. This ensures that data stays private and your business is not impacted by security breaches or compliance issues.
There are many advantages for data destruction, but one of the greatest benefits is the fact that it decreases the risk of exposure to. But, it is extremely time-consuming and difficult. It is a lot of supervision and management.
We’ll discuss the most important reasons you should erase data , and also the best way to go about it in the proper method.
Why you should erase the data
1. Legal Compliance
The destruction of data is an requirement of law for certain businesses. Retention policies for digital data have been in effect for a long time, yet the majority of businesses aren’t yet in compliance with these policies. Businesses that fail to properly eliminate their data face huge penalties.
For instance retention policies for email are becoming more strict for businesses of any size. Electronic data is subject to long retention periods under federal, state as well as local law. Certain businesses are required to keep emails for seven years and some for even longer. After that time, the data should be removed properly.
2. Reputational Damage
The scandals surrounding data breaches have affected several of the biggest corporations across the globe. The damage to reputation can be immense. A breach of data can impact credibility of clients and in this day and age, information could spread quickly.
Your customers want to know that their personal information will be protected. If they experience security breaches, they could be worried regarding the safety of other data that they give to you, like financial information.
3. Financial Costs
A data breach can be costly for your company. If there is the investigation of a regulator agency or civil lawsuit your business may be slapped with fines. It could also be required to shell out thousands as ransom to hackers.
Furthermore, the cost of the storage of data that is not needed could spiral into the stratosphere of chaos. Eliminating unnecessary data will help you save money.
Best methods for Data Destruction
Make a Plan
Create a timetable for when data needs to be removed. Data destruction must be performed in a predictable and regular way. This can reduce the risk of human error or missing deadlines. If certain data needs to be kept for a specified period of duration, i.e., six months, then destroyed, plan for data destruction to happen at the end of six months.
Have an inventory
It is essential to maintain a complete inventory the hardware that contains data. Additionally, you should keep a complete inventory of all software that contains data (or the complete list of all programs that contain data). If you don’t then there is an unfounded expectation that all data will be destroyed at the same time. Based on your company’s requirements the situation could lead to delays or even scheduling problems.
You’ll need the right tools
It is essential to have the appropriate tools for destroying data. There are numerous tools and applications that can help you handle the destruction of data. Make sure that you be using the correct tools to assist you in preserve the necessary data for standards of data compliance. For instance, email archiving solutions offer retention management and data discovery capabilities as well as eDiscovery tools and other tools which make it simpler to meet the requirements of guidelines for data retention.
Assign Responsibilities
Assign data destruction responsibilities to appropriate personnel. This could include employees in the Legal department, or higher management. Make sure you document precisely who is accountable for data destruction and the procedure to complete it.
Maintain Documentation
Maintain a record of every data destruction activity. If you do not keep the documentation you need it may be challenging (if it is not even possible) to demonstrate that the destruction of data was completed.
Notify Everyone
Inform all (including personnel from compliance) who is involved in the process that data is being deleted. This will to ensure eDiscovery request aren’t submitted concerning deleted data.
Conclusion
Following the above best practices, the destruction of data is likely to go smoothly. Be aware that destruction of data is only one part of the process of risk management. To to ensure compliance, we suggest consulting with a legal counsel or an outside security expert.
The destruction of data is a long and tedious process. It is particularly difficult for small companies with limited IT resources. However, it is vital for the success of your company.
As of now, you must be able to comprehend the basics of the process of destroying data. This is a procedure that is required by federal privacy laws however, it also offers economic benefits. Data destruction is the initial step in safeguarding your company from cyber attacks.
Don’t forget, it’s time to start your destruction of data.
Menu