With a rise in digital advancements, there has been an increase in cybercrime as well. Data theft has harmed millions of people in the virtual world and continues to do so. It usually results from compromised security of personal, financial and professional data available digitally.
Data theft not only deals with minor digital crimes but also includes major online frauds and identity theft. Such incidents can prove to be damaging to a corporation. Leaked sensitive information of a company can end up causing financial losses or result in a tarnished image.
What is Data Theft?
Data theft often called information theft is a type of cybercrime in which a third party gets illegal access to inside information of a company or an individual. There are cases where different types of digital information are stolen. The information includes personal details such as name, address and phone number that are later used for malicious activities.
Fraudsters can also get access to financial information and use them for illegal schemes. Many classified company documents are at risk of data theft that can be later used against the company and end up in a legal battle.
Risk of Data Theft with Discarding IT Equipment
One of the serious issues of discarding old IT equipment is the risk of getting sensitive information stolen. The corporate sector is especially affected by such threats and their old electronics must be dealt with ultimate care during corporate IT recycling.
Anyone can recover data available on the old storage devices of a company thrown in the dumpster. But the question is, how can you prevent data theft? IT Recycling Services are an effective way of dealing with your old electronics without harming the environment and putting your classified information at risk.
Types of Data Theft During Electronic Recycling
Getting your old electronics securely recycled by a reliable computer recycling company can prove to be an effective solution. However, many malicious parties manage to get access to available data on the hard drives and use it against the companies.
Here are the types of data theft that you must beware of:
Stolen Information
Cases of stolen information are commonly seen where individuals illegally recover any data available on USBs and hard disks. This includes all types of information such as personal, financial and business details. Such data theft attacks can either be planned or unplanned but surely lead to security breaches in a company.
Even organisations as big as Apple fall prey to such information theft. When an employee carelessly left the prototype of a new iPhone laying around, all the hardware and specs were leaked on the internet within a few hours.
Ransomware attacks
Ransomware is a type of malware in which your phone or electronic device gets encrypted and you can’t access any data. The perpetrator asks you to pay a certain amount to save your data from being leaked on the internet. In most cases, even paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee a fair return of all the stolen data.
Personal data theft
This type of data theft deals with the stealing of personal information that includes your name, pictures, address, phone number, social media accounts, and passwords. Such information can be used for identity theft and might aim at ruining your image. There are cases of account hacking where the hacker pretends to be the account holder and posts content and make statements on their behalf.
Business data theft
A common type of data theft deals with stealing information about a certain company and their sensitive business information. Such information includes employee data, details about the clients and practices used inside the company that are not supposed to be made public. Perpetrators either use such data against the business or blackmail the company for money.
Financial data theft
When the financial details of a company or an individual are compromised and get into the hands of a third party, it is called financial data theft. It includes bank account details, ATM pins, debit card numbers, credit card details and online banking app passwords. Such data theft results in fraudulent transactions from the bank account that often cannot be reversed.
How to Prevent Data Theft during IT Recycling Services?
Throwing away your old electronics or sending them off for recycling can also result in data breaches. To keep IT recycling secure for yourself and your company, it is always better to get Data Destruction services. It destroys the storage devices along with the stored information and helps you avoid data theft.
Computer IT Disposal offers hard drive shredding services along with computer recycling to make it more secure for businesses and individuals.
Depending on the level of sensitivity of your data, you can choose what type of data destruction methods you want to go for. These methods range from overwriting, physical destruction and data degaussing.
Are there any data theft laws in the UK?
The UK Data Protection Act 2018 deals with data theft. It is a crime in the UK to get unlawful access to someone’s personal data without consent. This law gives the power to the Information Commissioner’s Office to start criminal proceedings against any party involved in this offence.
This data theft UK law also controls how government, companies and businesses can use the personal information of the subjects. Any breach of confidential customer data can result in a maximum fine of 4% of global turnover or up to £17.5 million.
Conclusion
The risk of data theft is increasing and there is a need to take strong security measures to keep your information safe. While getting IT recycling services, it is imperative to analyse if your equipment contains any sensitive information or not. If it does, make sure to get data destruction services to be on the safe side. Choose an IT recycling company such as Computer IT Disposal that provides a complete certification of data destruction procedure. This way you can prevent the classified information of your company from getting leaked.
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