Half of all IT directors admit to destroying hardware as opposed to having data erased because of a fear it won’t be done properly, according to a survey by DSA Connect.

The research found that three in 10 IT directors admit to mothballing IT hardware for the same reason.

A further 10 per cent said they were doing this because they are “not confident of being able to sell it to a reliable third party who can guarantee that the data on it will be erased properly.”

66 per cent of those surveyed said that they believe the amount of end of life hardware technology held by their employers is increasing, with 52 per cent saying this is happening because of growing concerns about the quality of professional data erasure services.

“We are pleased to see how seriously businesses are taking the laws around data erasure and IT hardware destruction,” said Harry Benham, chairman, DSA Connect. “Businesses are right to be cautious when it comes to their end of life hardware, if not wiped correctly, they could face significant fines for data breaches, which could also damage their brand and reputation."

He added: “We are seeing an increasing number of companies that claim to legally and professionally dispose of data and end of life hardware, however we have found that the processes some of them use are flawed and the data they have deleted can be retrieved.”

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