Data security for redundant computer equipment is an absolute requirement.
Whether the data is Governmental, business or personal then secure destruction of that data must be applied to avoid any security breaches at a later stage after disposal of the equipment.
Local recycling centres have reported that many personal computer users are simply dumping their equipment in the skip without any any attention paid to the data that is stored on the hard drive, which may contain bank records such as pin numbers, bank account, and other secure data, also cv data which would contain DOB and home address details enough data for a criminal to obtain money through your account or set up further bogus fraudulent bank accounts.
The fraudster then may create a situation which damages or destroys your good credit rating through their activity.

Business data in the hands of your competitors would be a serious financial issue, client details, profits, supplier information all readily available could be disastrous.
Criminal activity and usage of your data would be a serious problem, perhaps there would be credit and debit card details available where the fraudster could drain your financial resources.

There are several methods methods of destroying or permantley deleting your data from your hard drive or storgae media, simply deleting the file(s) and folder(s) or formatting the media will not suffice.
File systems do not physically delete the data when this function is applied they merely inform the file system that this area of media can be utilised again, thus the data can remain for some time.
Full data security to a hard drive can be applied via a overwrite, there are many versions DOD 52227 is one recognised standard there are many more in truth a single pass pattern to fill the hard drive from the beginning to the end of the hard drive will be sufficient to destroy the data on the hard disk permanently.
Many home users and business’s utilise this method for ethical recycling schemes as the media can then be re used.

Ultimately physical destruction of the hard dirve via a shreddiing machine will physically destroy the hard drive this method can be used for eyes only documents and data.

Our data destruction services are completely free with a confirmation email sent when the process has been completed.

USB memory storage media or flash NAND devices have recently grown in popularity due to their lox cost, relatively fast access and portability, however there can be some issues relating to this technology and loss of data.

Due to their inherint design they are suseptable to physical damage such as being snapped or broken while inserted into the computer system or knocked accidentally while connected to the computer system.~
There are developed techniques to recover snapped or broken USB memory sticks the key to a successful recovery is not to attempt to use the device after it has been broken, this action has been taken by some who are desperate to gain access to their data this usually happens when the device is not snapped in to two pieces and can still be inserted into the computer, please avoid this at all costs as further damage may occur.
Software solutions will not help either, the only course of action is hands on from a specialist engineer with SMC and hot air skills and specialist flash NAND equipment that can deal with the specific algorithym and chipset for each specific device.

The bad blocks that are on the device are mapped and dealt with in various ways such as the wear algo and like modern hard drive media it has translation schemes to put this out of reach to the user data area and thus keep the device functioning within specification and allow the data user to store their data safely without loss.
Thermal runaway is another situation which may occur and even though the device is solid state it may fail due to excessive heat on the controller PCB if a component changes its value in ohms or becomes short.