Ultimate protection for confidential data
In today's digital and connected world, information is one of the most valuable resources. At the same time, the threats of data theft, industrial espionage, and cyberattacks are constantly increasing. Companies and institutions must not only protect their active data, but also ensure its secure destruction. High-security data destruction means that confidential information is destroyed in such a way that recovery is absolutely impossible.
Inadequate data destruction management can have serious consequences, including data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage. Industries with high security requirements are particularly affected, including:
Various technologies are available for secure data destruction. The following compares high-security shredders, granulators, disintegrators, and degaussers in terms of their functionality and areas of application.
High-security shredders shred paper documents to security level P-6 or P-7 according to ISO/IEC 21964 (DIN 66399). This corresponds to a particle size of less than or equal to 10 mm² (P-6) or 5 mm² (P-7). Commercial high-security shredders are used in government agencies, the military, banks, and companies with very high security requirements.
Granulators are machines with massive cutting units used for the physical destruction of hard drives (SSDs & HDDs), magnetic tapes, and optical media. Similar to disintegrators, the working chamber is sealed at the bottom with a sieve, so the particles are cut several times. The replaceable sieves offer flexible particle size control; however, there are natural limitations to their practical application, especially in high-security areas, which require expert advice.
Disintegrators are used to destroy paper documents or plastic-bound data storage media when high security and high throughput are required. They impress with their very low lifetime costs and extreme robustness. The working chamber with the rotating blades is loaded from above and features a screen at the bottom, so that the data storage media remain in the working chamber until the particle size is smaller than the screen perforation. The screens are quick and easy to change and enable security levels from P-4 to P-7 to be achieved in the same machine. Disintegrators in the high-security sector are typically used by government agencies or military organizations, but they can also be found in medium-security applications by banks, public authorities, or credit card manufacturers.
Degaussers are designed for erasing magnetic data storage devices such as hard drives (HDDs) and magnetic tapes. They destroy the magnetically stored data by applying a very strong magnetic field, thereby erasing the stored information. This method is particularly interesting for companies, service providers, and government agencies that want to destroy data in a relatively short time and without physical destruction before disposing of the data storage devices. In military and government high-security environments, the physical destruction of the data storage device after the degaussing process is usually also required to comply with security guidelines.
Many companies underestimate the risks of inadequate data destruction. Hard drives and documents that are simply discarded or inadequately destroyed can pose a significant security risk. Attackers use modern recovery methods to make deleted data readable again. To prevent these threats, companies should ensure that:
The choice of the appropriate data destruction method depends on individual requirements. High-security shredders and disintegrators meet the highest security standards for paper documents, while granulators are ideal for the physical destruction of digital data storage media. Degaussers are ideal for magnetic storage media and ensure fast, irreversible data deletion.
Companies and institutions must be aware of the importance of secure data destruction and take appropriate measures to protect themselves against data misuse. Only through the use of certified technologies and proven security procedures can maximum protection of sensitive information be guaranteed.
