Is the Secure Disposal of Tech an Underestimated Cybersecurity Risk?

I read this informative article recently in the Reseller News (read here) about seven critical IT policies organisations should adopt largely centred around cybersecurity. It does cover new trends such as the global move to a hybrid ‘working from home’ environment, however, I felt one important cybersecurity risk policy was missing. This article is not alone in omitting it, many other articles on cybersecurity barely touch on this risk that I think could leave many organisations exposed, and this is the risk of not securely disposing of your technology assets once they have reached the end of their useful life.

Although a device may have reached the end of its useful life for the corporate user there is an enormous global marketplace for second hand devices. How confident are you that your company’s outdated and old technology is being completely wiped of confidential and sensitive data before being re-sold out into the big wide world?

Cybersecurity has the undivided attention of board members, executive teams and shareholders of most organisations. We have all seen in the public domain many examples of the chaos caused by a cybersecurity breach and this remains front of mind and causes sleepless nights for many CIOs.

Therefore, why should the secure disposal of business technology be overlooked and underestimated as a cybersecurity risk? Often it is the responsibility of more junior members of IT teams to manage. Disposing of outdated equipment isn’t the most glamourous of jobs and maybe for some it’s better that the technology is out of sight and out of mind.

The other often overlooked aspect of disposing of old equipment is the impact it has on the environment. New Zealand is unfortunately one of the world’s largest producers of e-waste per capita and much of this comes from corporate users.

So, three key points an organisation should consider carefully when its technology reaches the end of its useful life in a corporate environment:

1. How is it currently being disposed of and to what standard is the data being wiped? What certification and reporting is being provided to certify this?
2. Are the assets being disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner? What reporting on the levels of e-waste is being provided?
3. Are you extracting full value out of your end-of-life assets?

Quadrent’s Sustainable Lease gives your organisation peace of mind that your technology is being managed all the way through its lifecycle. When it has reached its end of life, we ensure it is securely wiped to defence grade standard, environmentally repurposed or recycled along with a full range of reporting that complies with your cybersecurity and ESG policies. We can even buy back your current owned technology which removes the disposal risk and burden from your organisation immediately.

If you are looking to plug that gap in your cybersecurity policies and sleep easier, give us a call!