IT supplier Dell has launched a “keep your hard drive”
service for corporate users across Europe, the Middle East and
Africa, in a bid to improve security.
The service aims to quell fears that sensitive information on
computer hard drives could get into the wrong hands.
Traditionally, users would need to return faulty hard drives in
order to get a replacement with service and support.
But the new scheme allows customers to buy the right to keep an
existing hard drive as well as the replacement, cutting the risk of
third parties gaining access to sensitive or confidential data
stored on hard drives.
Rod Arnot, director of services at Dell UK, said, “Organisations
are duty bound to dispose of data responsibly to protect themselves
and their customers.” The new service would allow businesses to
keep total control of sensitive data on hard drives according to
their own security policies, he added.
The move follows a study by the University of Glamorgan, which
revealed that organisations were failing to remove important
information from old hard drives.
Researchers bought 105 hard drives on internet auction sites –
and found data on 92 of them contained sensitive information,
including staff passwords and national insurance numbers.