Gongalong Posted August 8, 2014 Posted August 8, 2014 Hi All, What approach do you take to destroying hard disk drives? We’ve been using DBAN with SATA drives, but also have tens of IDE and SCSI that will be more complex to harness. One of the technicians here has suggested drilling through the case and platters, and I have a friend at a school up north that does just that. Is there such a thing as regulatory guidance (sans BECTA)? I haven’t checked with our local council to see if they mandate anything in particular. We also have a number of tapes that I’d like to dispose of. Can anyone recommend a company that will do this? As opposed to a cowboy, where they'll end up on eBay. TIA
unixman_again Posted August 8, 2014 Posted August 8, 2014 I've used Computer Recycling Birmingham | IT, WEEE, Computer Recycling and Destruction in Birmingham for hdd disposal. They used to have a video on their site of the hdd muncher; there is a photo in one of the scrolling pix. It's damn thorough! 1
robjduk Posted August 8, 2014 Posted August 8, 2014 I saved them up and got their destruction for free when I put in some huge order with Stone once. I would wait for when you do a large order with a vendor who destroys them and use it at leverage that they collect them and destroy them for free 2
speckytecky Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 I laboriously disassemble the HDDs and remove the platters which I then malarmalise. Takes a while but you know they are done when they are done! Interestingly I'd always thought the platters were hard steel but to my surprise some shatter more like glass. Oh, and the best way of marmalising them is to put them on a carpet and run over them with the casters of a swivel chair 1
pcstru Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 The last batch of tapes, I drilled through (end on, so the drill goes through the whole spool). 1
hawc Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 I have some fun in the Resistant Materials department with the drills and saws. 2
bossman Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 We burn the tapes and destroy the HDD's with a very big hammer and then weigh them in for scrap! Money we make then goes to purchase other equipment. Not a chance in creation that anyone would be able to take data off shattered platters! I wouldn't trust anyone else with our schools data! even if they give certificates of verification! 2
plexer Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 I I'd always thought the platters were hard steel but to my surprise some shatter more like glass. Yes some are made of a glass and ceramic material so you need to be careful with lots of tiny slivers floating about. Ben 2
Gongalong Posted August 11, 2014 Author Posted August 11, 2014 My two concerns are (1) the H&S aspect of drilling/smashing platters, in case it produces nasty bits and (2) inadvertently giving them away to some cowboy who doesn't wipe them and sticks them on eBay. I much prefer to destroy them here, but it's tedious with the wiping. 1
peterp Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 We used to drill ours, but now if the machine it is in is working, we PXE boot Microsoft Dart, and use diskwipe. It's no more hassle than building the PC. Also means we end up with working machines for the disposals people to recycle. Broken ones get the drill treatment (for 3.5" drives) or the hammer (to shatter the platters for 2.5") 1
speckytecky Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) Who pays you for them, is it a local company? I have only been able to find for free ones such as the excellent LCWS to date. I went up into my attic recently and retrieved several boxes of floppies which I took to bits then shredded the platters. It's left me with at least a kilo of good quality aliminium / steel parts that is actually probably worth a few bob. We burn the tapes and destroy the HDD's with a very big hammer and then weigh them in for scrap! Money we make then goes to purchase other equipment. Not a chance in creation that anyone would be able to take data off shattered platters! I wouldn't trust anyone else with our schools data! even if they give certificates of verification! Edited August 11, 2014 by speckytecky
Stone_Charli Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) Hi @Gongalong, You're absolutely right, there is a health & safety risk with drilling/smasing hard drives, as well as the data security risk if for some reason they aren't destroyed fully. As @robjduk said, we do indeed collect old IT hardware for free, and hard drives are wiped using industry-leading Blancco software, then either reused or destroyed in our shredder. You'd then get a full audit report and certificate of disposal. We'd be more than happy to help with your requirements for disposal of hard drives and other kit! In the meantime, here's a bit of guidance on the regulation side in terms of data destruction: http://www.stonegroup.co.uk/media/62385/steve_mellings_adisa_white_paper.pdf And if you want to find out more about our recycling service: ICT Recycling | Stone Group Feel free to PM me if you need any more information. Edited August 11, 2014 by Stone_Charli 1
elsiegee40 Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) What you need is a teenage son, an electric screwdriver and a set of bits and leave him to spend an afternoon happily taking them apart... as mine is at this very moment. He has 16 to do on this occasion. The Lacie drives are completely unusable and the miscellaneous drives from servers and PCs are in the process of being deconstructed. He finishes the job by scratching and bending the platters. Edited August 11, 2014 by elsiegee40 1
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