Hacking of computer networks and theft of personal data has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2014 alone, over 1 billion personal records were illegally accessed, a 54% increase from the previous year. Several major hacks in recent years have compromised personal information for hundreds of millions of people. As hacking becomes more common, simply deleting files is not enough to protect data, as skilled hackers can recover deleted information. Data Killers is a company that provides certified hard drive destruction services to permanently delete any residual data left on outdated IT equipment, helping protect customer and employee information that could potentially be leaked. Their services are approved by the National Security Agency and provide certificates of destruction for handled drives.

1. (NU) - Sponsored News - If
you keep up with the news at all,
you know that hacking computer
networks of companies -- both
large and small -- means big busi-
ness. Like any other commodity,
personal data and information can
be priceless.
According to Zdnet, a website
that provides 24/7 news coverage
of tech trends, 2014 alone saw
more than 1 billion personal
records illegally accessed -- in-
cluding health, financial, email
and home address data, and oth-
er personal information like So-
cial Security numbers. That’s up
more than 54 percent from the
year prior, according to industry
experts -- and there’s no sign that
those numbers will be slowing
down any time soon.
Case in point, just this year,
more than 191 million U.S. vot-
ers’ information was compro-
mised from an incorrect config-
uration in the voter database. Still
not convinced? Anthem, one of
the world’s largest health insur-
ers, was hacked this year, and 80
million U.S. citizens had all of
their personal information leaked.
“It’s not just corporate data …
it’s not just cyberterrorism; every-
one is fair game,” Drew Del Mat-
to, chief financial officer of
Fortinet, told Investor’s Business
Daily in an interview last year.
The point is, hacking has
become the norm, and simply
clearing the drive by traditional
methods -- deleting files or even
formattingthedrive--isn’tenough;
these files can be easily recovered
by anyone skilled enough.
Enter Data Killers, a Maryland-
based company that, through its
recent merger with Capitol Asset
Recovery, now has decades of
experience recycling and refur-
bishing IT equipment as well
as hard drive destruction. That
means any residual proprietary in-
formation left on outdated equip-
ment is permanently deleted.
While some would argue that
destroying hard drives on a regu-
lar or even on an occasional basis
isn’t cost effective for a company,
experts would counter that using
a company like Data Killers and
the solutions it provides is minimal
compared to unintentionally leak-
ing customer and employee data
and financial information.
“We provide tangible data se-
curity solutions to some of the
largest financial institutions and
most secretive federal agencies in
the world,” said Zack Boorstein,
vice president of Data Killers.
Data Killers’ nationwide hard
drive shredding services are certi-
fied and secure, using National
Security Agency-approved de-
gaussers and patent-protected
shredders. Services include off-site
and on-site hard drive shredding
and disintegration, high speed de-
gaussing, serial and bar code scan-
ning, demanufacturing, media de-
struction and incineration services.
Their certificates of destruction are
nationally recognized.
For more information, visit
www.datakillers.com.
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