Tag: hard drive destruction

Security Engineered Machinery Introduces Enterprise Line of Data Destruction Devices

June 13, 2018 at 4:03 pm by SEM

data-center-ssd-destructionSecurity Engineered Machinery Co., Inc. (SEM), global leader in high security information end-of-life solutions, announced the introduction of a line of hard drive destroyers specifically engineered for enterprise drive destruction. The Enterprise Line, which includes rotational and solid state shredders and a disintegrator, is the first of its kind in the data destruction industry.

“We engineered the Enterprise Line to address the needs of our data center clients,” said Nicholas Cakounes, Executive Vice President of SEM. “The overwhelming client feedback we received expressed an imminent need for data destruction devices that could easily handle the larger, thicker, denser enterprise drives commonly found in data center environments.”

The Enterprise Line includes the compact, quiet Model 0315 hard drive shredder designed for office use, as well as the high-volume Model 0305 and Model 0304 shredders. The 0315 shreds up to 90 enterprise rotational hard disk drives (HDDs) and up to 120 enterprise solid state drives (SSDs) per hour at 1.5” final particle size, whereas the industrial grade 0305 and 0304 destroy up to 800 HDDs/1,200 SSDs and 1,400 HDDs/2,000 SSDs per hour, respectively. All three models are available in multiple configurations to accommodate a variety of user requirements: rotational hard disk drive (HDDs) only, solid state drive (SSD) only, and a combo version that destroys both HDDs and SSDs utilizing separate feed openings and cutting chambers. Final particle size for HDDs ranges from 1.5” to 0.75”, and final particle size for SSDs is 0.375”. All shredders in the new Enterprise Line are noted on the NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List (EPL) for HDD Destruction Devices as an approved solution for the “deformation of magnetic media hard drive platters” and are GDPR, NIST 800-88, SOX, FACTA, HIPAA, FISMA, NAID, and DoD compliant.

In addition to the three shredder models, SEM’s new Enterprise Line includes the Model 2SSD Disintegrator engineered to destroy SSDs to a nominal particle size of 2mm2. This newly redesigned machine employs an industrial grade, dual stage cutting system with specially enhanced cutting blades and sizing screens to provide maximum throughput in an office environment. Designed with a custom, steel-insulated sound enclosure for maximum sound control, the 2SSD also features an internal carbon-based pre-filter and HEPA air filtration system for operator safety as well as odor and dust control. Click for video.

“After pilot testing the devices with our existing Fortune 50 data center clients, we realized that the Enterprise Line provides the ideal solution to organizations looking to safeguard privacy and mitigate risk in the data center and beyond,” added Andrew Kelleher, President of SEM. “In addition to data centers, security-focused organizations such as the federal government, healthcare providers, and financial institutions are facing increased compliance requirements in parallel with more frequent use of enterprise drives into their data centers. The problem becomes what to do with the drives at end-of-life to maintain privacy and compliance — we are providing that solution.”

All devices in the Enterprise Line are specifically designed for enterprise drive destruction with increased torque, industrial grade construction, and more rugged cutting heads, enabling the system to cut through multiple steel plates, carriers, and other enterprise drive constructed components such as heat sinks and cooling tubes.

Hard Drive Shredders – Which is right for you?

May 8, 2018 at 11:15 am by SEM

Shredding a hard drive just like a paper shredder, how can that be? That’s right, when it comes time to dispose of old hard drives that contain millions of pages of data and information, they can be shredded into strip cut pieces just like a paper shredder. The question is which hard drive shredder best meets an individuals or company’s needs?

old-hard-drive

Which Hard Drive Shredder is Best?

In order to determine which hard drive shredder is the best solution, a few things must be considered. What is the volume of drives needed to be destroyed? What is the security level required? Do we have the proper power to operate the system? Once these are answered, the search can begin.

SEM offers a variety of hard drive shredders that answer all of these questions. From a low volume, small footprint, office-like system with standard single phase power like the SEM Model 0300 to a larger, industrial size, high volume system with 3-phase power like the SEM Model 0304, SEM has a solution to meet your needs.

Prioritize Your Needs

If SECURITY is your most important priority – the smaller the better. As such, a .75” strip cut is more desirable than 1.0” or 1.5”. Model 0304 have the capabilities to produce all three strip cut sizes.

If VOLUME is more important – any of the systems with a shred size of 1.5” produce the higher volumes that range from 500 to 3500 hard drives per hour.

POWER –The Model 0300 requires standard 120V -20Amp power while the remainder of systems require 3-phase power at 208, 230 or 460V. Therefore, your facility must be able to accommodate this power.

SPACE – The 3-phase power units that can shred high volumes require enough space to accommodate the shredder and the discharge conveyor. A collection container to accept the shredded drives must also be considered. As such, the facility must have enough room to handle these configurations.

What to do With Shredder Drives

Hard drives contain a variety of precious metals such as gold, copper, aluminum, and more. Once the drives are shredded, these can be sold to recyclers who have the capability to separate the metals through a smelting process. When gold prices are up, it doesn’t take much to make these shredded drives very valuable. At the time of this report, a shredded hard drive had a value of about 50 cents per drive.

Ameri-shred shredder hdd
SEM Model 0304

SUMMARY:

If you have need to dispose of hard drives or similar items such as cell phones, blackberries, etc., an SEM hard drive shredder is a clean, simple to operate, highly effective solution. And with so many options available from SEM, there’s always one that fits your needs.

What to Do with Drives Returned to Data Server Builders

January 6, 2018 at 2:48 pm by SEM

In a recent meeting with a company that builds custom data servers, they had a dilemma. What to do with the hard drives that contain data when a customer returns a failed server for a factory repair?

Each of their servers can have anywhere from 2-8 drives in them. They had been using an outside destruction service to come and destroy the returned drives once they were finished with them, but they were starting to get the feeling that this was not the most secure process and figured there had to be a more secure way. So their question to me was “What is the most responsible way to destroy their customers returned to factory hard drives?”

They wanted me to provide them some suggestions of different ways to destroy their media. In the Government, there are very specific guidelines on how to effectively eliminate data on virtually all forms of media, from paper to hard drives. However, in the commercial world, guidelines are more by industry, and not always exact. As such, here are a few suggestions for the commercial businesses on ways to effectively eliminate data on failed HDDs.

DEGAUSSING is the most effective method of erasing data on magnetic media like HDDs and data tapes. If you are trying to erase unclassified (CUI) or sensitive data, The SEM EMP1000-HS is a powerful commercially sold degausser with a power at 16,000 gauss (1.6 Tesla), erasing the highest coercivity magnetic media available today without the use of any adapters.

If you have drives that have classified data the SEM EMP1000-HS will also take care of those. This unit has been evaluated by the NSA for classified information erasure. When degaussing with this solution, you are ensured that all the data has been erased in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the National Security Agency. Note that classified data will also have to be physically destroyed, as discussed in this next section.

PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION is another method of destroying HDDs. While data is not erased, the drive itself is physically damaged making it inoperable. The SEM 0101 Hard Drive Crusher is an entry level device that bends and punches a hole into the drive. It can destroy standard HDDs and up to six laptop drives in one 8 second cycle.

Whitaker-crusher-HSM-crusher-Garner-crusher
SEM Model 0101

A level up from that for physical destruction would be an SEM HDD shredder like the SEM Model 0300 HDD Shredder. This machine shreds the drive down to a particle of 1.5 providing a higher level of security. These methods physically destroy the media making them inoperable.

So if you have drives returned to a site that need to be destroyed, consider using equipment to do it right in house. At SEM, we’re here to help with any volume, budget, or location and we’re just a click away! Contact us today to learn what solutions would be best for your company to keep your data and your customers data safe and secure.

Classified Data Destruction of Data on Legacy PCs

June 1, 2014 at 4:57 pm by SEM

Sometimes offices are hard to keep organized and clean.

Sure, we keep them clean and tidy them up in case the boss comes by but what about the areas that are not as visual, like our personal computers (PCs)? Just like our attic or garage, our PCs can get just (if not more) cluttered. One day it will be time to upgrade or change them and what is supposed to be done with all the data located on the device? Especially those PCs that hold classified or sensitive information. Files can’t just be deleted, because although you can’t see them, they are still there. So what is the correct way to destroy this information?

Offices and agencies upgrade computers quite often and classified files can’t just be deleted. Instead, files will need to be destroyed by approved government methods, controlled by the National Security Agency (NSA). For guidelines on how to effectively delete data on all forms of media, the NSA publishes a list of equipment that has those capabilities. This list, known as the NSA EPL (NSA Evaluated Product List) specifies which devices are approved for effective deletion of classified, CUI, and top secret data that resides on paper, optical disks, hard drives and other related media.

When offices upgrade their computers, most don’t know how to effectively dispose of them. They typically take the “out of sight/out of mind approach” and put them into a safe, closet or some other secure area for the next guy to worry about. Well, you were just notified of a VIP visit coming up soon and it’s time for a spring clean-up. Guess what? You happen to be the next guy and now it’s your responsibility to dispose of these systems and the classified data that resides on the hard drives.

The first step of destroying hard drives is to degauss them. What’s a degausser? Simply put, a degausser is a very powerful magnet that erases magnetic media (i.e. hard disk drives). For destroying classified hard drives, the degausser must be approved and tested by the NSA and be on their Evaluated Products Listing (EPL). Once you procure an approved degausser (like those found at SEM), you must additionally physically destroy this drive. This can be done using a drill press, or even a sledgehammer. However, easier and more effective options would be to purchase a hard drive crusher or a hard drive shredder.

Once the drive is degaussed and destroyed the information is now officially destroyed to NSA standards. Never worry about discarding legacy PCs again and remember SEM is always here for consultation or help regarding secure data destruction.

Understanding the “Degauss & Destroy” Requirements for Magnetic Media

December 21, 2010 at 1:16 pm by SEM

The rules for destroying sensitive or classified magnetic computer media, like hard drives and tape cartridges, can be confusing. But in actuality, the data destruction process can be boiled down to a simple procedure.

One question that often comes up is about what is and isn’t magnetic media. Magnetic media always involves a material with a surface that holds information in the form of magnetic traces. That includes standard hard drives, tape cartridges, Zip and Jaz disks, and jump drives. It does not include optical media (CD, DVD, BD) or solid state storage devices (SS hard drives, flash memory sticks, thumb drives, etc.). This is important to note, since degaussers are only useful for use on magnetic media. They can’t be used to wipe information off of optical or solid state storage devices.

There are two basic types of required equipment used for destroying magnetic media: degaussers and physical destroyers, like crushers or shredders. For users with government classified data, the choice is simple- the media must be wiped using an NSA listed degausser before disposal. The NSA mandates physical shredding or crushing as a process for final disposal of classified magnetic media. Approved degaussers can be identified by consulting the NSA Evaluated Products List or by looking at the SEM website under degaussers.

For unclassified media, a physical destroyer can be used as the sole destruction method. Devices that crush or shred hard drives and tape cartridges make these items extremely difficult to extract data from. A physical destruction method can be faster and lower cost than degaussing. This process is often seen as the best choice, when one is not concerned with an adversary with extensive resources available to recover data from scraps.

For classified data, physical destroyers is the step two after degaussing. Media looks no different after degaussing. It looks just like the original classified item. As an additional safeguard, the NSA mandates that all HDDs must be both degaussed and physically destroyed. That means that the hard drives can either be crushed or shredded by a product that is evaluated by the NSA and placed on the Evaluated Products List. SEM has examples of both, and you can see an example of a crusher and a shredder on our site.