Destroying storage devices at end-of-life will be critical as data centers utilize new tech.WESTBOROUGH, MA, October 29, 2019 —Security Engineered Machinery Co., Inc. (SEM), global leader in high security information end-of-life solutions, published a whitepaper warning of the security risks that will be introduced as the transition from 4G to 5G rolls out over the next few years. The paper, written by SEM President Andrew Kelleher, stresses the criticality of having proper data decommissioning policies and equipment to securely destroy physical media that holds sensitive information in data centers around the world.

“We have seen the world’s information all move towards the digital format over the last decade with our communication, the internet, and streaming entertainment,” commented Kelleher. “Now, the upcoming transition to the 5G network will allow larger, more dense data to move at faster speeds to more people than ever before. Data centers will have to scale their technology in-house to meet these latest technological advancements and it is imperative that obsolete drives are disposed of properly.”

For consumers of digital media and content creators, this 5G rollout is exciting news. For businesses that store and handle data, however, this transition will present some costly, high security risk challenges. One often overlooked risk in the digital age comes in the form of data disposal and destruction. With the growing threat to cybersecurity, where an attempted attack happens every 39 seconds, physical end-of-life destruction is often treated as a less immediate concern. The fact is that the improper disposal of physical media can lead to devastating effects to government entities, individual companies, organizations, and consumers.

“It is critical for companies to acknowledge and address the security challenges that these changes will present as old media is replaced, and having a proper plan and policy will be crucial to a secure transition,” Kelleher continued. “Planning now can protect the future of consumers, data centers, and individual companies that host their data in data centers as the transition to the future begins.”

To read the whitepaper, click here.