Disk Drive Destruction Can Save Millions From the Effect of ID Theft

Identity theft continues to affect millions of U.S. consumers, according to a study referenced below. Many of these people had their data stolen while the data was on a hard disk drive. That hard disk drive could have been stolen in a laptop or could have been inadvertently sold or given away with the data still on the drive. About 9.3 million people were victims of the crime the previous year, the study says, echoing a study at the same time by the Federal Trade Commission that indicated 10.1 million consumers had been hit in 2003. In all, one in every 23 consumers were victims that year. A disk drive destruction program would have been an inexpensive method to reduce much of the crime.

The study also suggests personal data is usually stolen in bulk by virtue of data left on a laptop or computer that was either stolen or given away. The data was not stolen by computer hackers, but people who simply bought used computers and then looked to see what was on them. Businesses should have a hard disk drive destruction program to protect its customers. The cost associated with securing a professional disk drive destruction program can be as low as $7.00 per destroyed disk. The cost of destruction is cheap compared to the cost of bad publicity and fines imposed by the state.

Keep in mind, many devices now contain confidential information. Be sure to remove disk drives from the following devices for giving them away or selling them, Laptops, tablets, copiers, fax machines, scanners.

Read more about the study at: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6866768/