We wrote about this a couple of years ago, yet it’s still a popular discussion. Many organizations still request a “DoD wipe” (“Department of Defense wipe”) or a “3–pass” to wipe data from their hard drives. Do you know what that means, and where it comes from? The DoD 5220.22-M standard was developed in the 1990’s and …
Category Archives: ITAD Blog
HIPAA Compliance Crackdown: Encrypt Your Data or Else
If your business is subject to HIPAA regulations, several recent events should make you reevaluate your data security measures. Two companies, Concentra Health Service and QCA Health Plan, were fined $1.7 million and $250,000, respectively, for failure to encrypt computers containing protected health information. In both cases, the laptop computers were stolen, highlighting the importance …
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Free Recycling Now Provided by Apple. Is it Safe for Business?
IT asset disposition (ITAD) just got a little bit easier thanks to a recent announcement by Apple—at first glance, anyway. The tech giant has initiated a recycling program at all of its retail locations that allows consumers to turn in unwanted Apple products to be refurbished, or recycled. If the device still has value, the …
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Controversy Surrounds Kill Switch for Smartphones and Tablets
The theft of smartphones and tablets is one of the most common forms of petty crime. Designed to be portable, valuable, and adaptable to any owner, they present a criminal temptation that is not going away anytime soon. In 2012 alone, an estimated 1.6 million phones were stolen from US consumers, a number which does …
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Help Your Employees Recycle Years of Personal Electronics
I grew up just as the internet was transitioning from an obscure scientific network to a publically-accessible information source. At a young age, I had a PC running Windows 95 in my bedroom, which was quickly replaced with a Windows 98 PC and a noisy 56k modem for connecting to dial-up internet. I got a …
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Microsoft Launches Office for the iPad: Is it Time for an Upgrade?
Now that Microsoft’s popular Office suite of applications has finally made its way to the iPad, IT managers—who previously shunned the tablet in favor of equipment that granted their workers more productivity—are taking a second look. For many companies that rely on Microsoft products (and that’s still most companies these days), the lack of Office …
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HIPAA Compliance is Expected to Be a Major Focus at NAID 2014
Will you be in Phoenix this weekend for NAID 2014? The annual conference held by the National Association for Information Destruction always promises an interesting lineup of speakers, events, and networking opportunities for those involved in all types of data destruction services. One of the hottest topics at this year’s conference is sure to be …
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Donate PCs and Laptops with the Asset Disposition Included
Many IT asset managers view donation as an attractive option for the disposition of their retired IT equipment. What better way to cap off a refresh cycle than by passing the now-unused, but perfectly usable, laptops, PCs, and other equipment on to a school or charitable organization that could really use it? Donating used IT …
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Data Center Storage Expected to Grow in 2014
Things move fast in the data center. As “big data” plays an increasingly important role in the operations of more and more companies, even companies with relatively new equipment in their data centers are looking to upgrade. With newer storage technology like solid state drives (SSDs) allowing for higher capacity, higher density, and most importantly, …
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XP is Over! What Do You Do With These XP Laptops?
After April 8, 2013, Microsoft will no longer provide patches, security fixes, or other support for its XP operating system. The move is a long time coming. Despite having a still-sizable market share among operating systems, XP is almost 12 years old. That’s ancient for an OS. Microsoft suggests that businesses that still use XP …
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