Wisetek. Fully Certified Hard Drive Shredding Service

Wisetek. Fully Certified Hard Drive Shredding Service

  • 13.7M
    Disk drives erased, certified and destroyed
  • 19.2M
    Parts recorded and processed
  • $1.75B
    Components recovered for reuse

Wisetek is a global leader in ITAD services with complete nationwide coverage in the United States. We provide clients with bespoke ITAD solutions such as hard drive disposal, degaussing, and data shredding services.

With the growing threat of data breaches and increased privacy concerns, large organizations are more vulnerable than ever before. Sensitive data cannot be left to chance; instead, it must be sufficiently destroyed to render all data irretrievable.

This is one of the main reasons why IT asset disposition (ITAD) has become such a rapidly growing industry worldwide and especially in the United States, where the industry is expected to grow to over $20 billion in 2020.

Why Choose Wisetek
for Hard Drive Shredding?

  • hard drive shredding

    National
    Coverage

    Wherever you operate within the United States, Wisetek provides complete coverage. Our American office locations and mobile fleet of data destruction vehicles can serve your organization from coast to coast.

  • hard drive shredding company

    Full ITAD
    Solutions

    Shredding, degaussing, disintegration, and crushing/punching are all ideal methods of secure data destruction, but they are best complemented in tandem with a comprehensive suite of ITAD solutions from Wisetek.

  • hard drive shredder

    Create an Effective CSR Strategy

    Environmental waste issues are a major area of public debate, with many businesses coming under scrutiny for wasteful processes. Formulate a CSR strategy that works by choosing Wisetek for certified recycling and safe disposal of IT assets.

  • on site hard drive shredding

    Your Trust
    is Our Goal

    Wisetek provides clients with transparent processes, full audit trails, and certificates of destruction. We also provide in-person and video verification of our data destruction processes so you can be assured that your data is safe.

  • hard drive shredding

    Be Wholly and
    Effortlessly Compliant

    It can be quite a challenge keeping up with compliance in over 30 states where data disposal laws have been enacted. Wisetek ensures that your organization is fully and completely compliant with regards to IT asset disposal.

  • hard drive shredding

    Flexible Pricing to Suit Your Business

    Wisetek’s bespoke client solutions apply to our pricing plans, as well. Only pay for the services you’ll actually use with our flexible pricing plans and experience the cost savings that Wisetek provides.

What is Hard Drive Shredding?

Hard drive shredders are purpose-built machines designed to shred hard drives into tiny pieces. Shredding is one of the most widely used and well-known methods of secure data destruction due to its efficacy, speed, and its ability to destroy all types of hard drives as well as other types of storage media consistently.

These machines tend to be large and bulky, but they can be used on trucks or large vehicles as well for on-site hard drive shredding functionality. Often, ITAD companies provide hard drive shredding services on their premises. Wisetek can perform professional shredding services on-site or off-site, as required.

Wisetek’s Hard Drive Shredding

Mobile Service

Hard drive shredding can take place either on-site at the business premises via mobile data destruction vehicles equipped with mobile shredding equipment. This adds an additional layer of security for data destruction since the drives do not require relocation.

hard drive shredding company

Secure Data Destruction

Many other forms of data destruction exist, but shredding remains one of the most popular since the results speak for themselves. Wisetek’s hard drive shredding process turns hard drives into 10mm pieces, or even 2mm if required, making the final product essentially dust.

hard drive shredder

Time and Cost Savings

Most shredders are capable of processing anywhere from 500 to 3,500 hard drives per hour. It also happens to be cost-effective when compared to other methods such as melting in acid or manual destruction.

on site hard drive shredding

Leave Hard Drive Shredding to the Experts

Hard drive shredding is a specialized service best left to a professional ITAD company. Although commercial-grade shredders exist, they tend to be costly, loud, and bulky – not to mention impractical for most organizations.

Unfortunately, only 15 per cent of organizations in the United States are using methods such as hard drive degaussing or hard drive shredding to dispose of end-of-life IT assets and equipment. This exposes companies to costly data breaches and damage to public image, as well as the loss of intellectual property.

Wisetek is able to provide a professional solution for old, redundant IT assets with assured destruction of sensitive data using hard drive shredding. Our certifications, transparent processes, and audit trails provide clients with the peace of mind knowing that their sensitive data won’t fall into the wrong hands, ever.

Risks of Data Breaches

With more and more data being stored within organizations and increased digitization worldwide, the threat of a data breach has never been higher. The average cost in the United States is about $8.19 million for a single data breach, which has increased at a staggering 12 per cent in the last 5 years.

Considering the costs of fines, penalties, class-action lawsuits from victims, as well as the costs of remediating the damage and rebuilding brand image, the cost of taking proper precautions is a drop in the ocean.

Wisetek’s secure shredding and professional ITAD services are precautionary measures that eliminate a major source of data breaches altogether before they can happen.

hard drive shredding

The Growing E-Waste Crisis

Electronic waste, including hard drives and storage media, is a major concern that is in dire need of addressing. Organizations can take an active role with environmental stewardship and safe IT asset disposal.

Nearly 70 per cent of all toxic chemicals in landfills originates from e-waste, despite e-waste only taking up 2-3 per cent of most landfills. This is clearly an environmental problem, so under no circumstances should you allow your organization to dump its retired IT assets into a landfill.

Not only is e-waste hazardous, but data disposal laws are being enacted in many states which can lead to fines or penalties for non-compliance. Wisetek has a zero-landfill policy, so you can rest assured that your old IT assets aren’t exacerbating this worldwide problem.

hard drive shredding company

Frequently Asked Questions About Hard Drive Shredding

Should I destroy a hard drive before recycling?

Yes. Hard drives that have not been destroyed contain many rare metals and trace amounts of copper, aluminum, and other salvageable materials which need to be extracted in order to be recycled.

Shredding is an ideal solution since the pieces left behind can be then crushed and the metals recycled properly.

What part of the hard drive do I need to destroy?

Hard drives differ in terms of technology and manufacturer, so they aren’t all alike. For hard disk drives (HDDs), the critical part that needs to be destroyed is the platter, a small, silver-colored disc located inside the aluminum casing.

This can be time-consuming, especially when large quantities of hard drives require destruction. Shredding is a far superior alternative to manual destruction.

Can shredded files be recovered?

Software programs and operating system tools that claim to ‘shred’ files digitally can delete files from the hard drive and make them difficult to retrieve. Recovery software and some basic IT skills can retrieve files, however, including sensitive data that may be left behind.

Avoid using online tools or formatting as security when disposing of hard drives and instead entrust their destruction with shredding or degaussing from Wisetek.

Is shredding secure?

Physical destruction of a hard drive does not necessarily make it secure. If the destroyed hard drive pieces are too coarse, it may be possible (although with great effort) to rebuild storage media and retrieve sensitive data.

By making the pieces finer, such as with a hard drive shredder which can shred to 10mm or smaller, reconstruction is virtually impossible as the hard drive is essentially rendered into dust.

Are deleted files really deleted?

Moving files and documents to the Recycle Bin and emptying it out clears up clutter, but it does not actually delete the file. In fact, retrieving files at a later date is fairly easy with free, online recovery wizards and tools.

For this reason, file deletion should never be considered as an alternative to secure data destruction such as shredding or degaussing.

Can you erase a hard drive with a magnet?

With a household magnet? Certainly not. Powerful magnets from degaussing equipment can destroy magnetic hard drives such as HDDs reliably, but they will not affect SDDs or other non-magnetic media such as USB flash drives. Shredders can destroy all of these types of media.

What alternatives exist to shredding?

There are plenty of alternatives to shredding, but most ITAD companies use degaussing, shredding, disintegration, and crushing/punching for practicality, efficiency, and quality. Acid melting, manual destruction with hammers or screwdrivers, for example, are either too costly or too time-consuming for most organizations.

Will shredders destroy any type of data?

Yes. This is why shredding is amongst the most common forms of hard drive destruction. Shredders will render anything from USB flash drives to CDs to SSDs into tiny pieces that are essentially impossible to reassemble and thus all data irretrievable.

Discover how Wisetek can help you

Contact us today if you’d like to enquire about our secure hard drive shredding services or our wide range of other ITAD services such as degaussing, hard drive disposal, and other forms of data destruction.

Contact Wisetek Today