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Flection uses the latest technology to provide a secure and reliable data destruction service. Our hard drive cleaning process supports at least 10 international data erasure standards, including DOD 5220.22.M and HMG Infosec No. 5.

Our erasure solutions are supported by detailed reports and meet today’s government and industry privacy standards. Flection guarantees that once legacy equipment arrives at one of our facilities, no data stored on it ever leaves. The procedures, work instructions, data cleaning software, erasure methods used, programmed controls, internal controls and extensive reporting support this.

Hard Drive Tracking throughout the Flection process

Data security is an essential priority in the Flection process. To ensure that all data that enters our facilities is erased, Flection employs a system of strict work instructions combined with software checks and safeguards and frequent internal audits. Every hard drive that is not inside a system (PC/Notebook/Server) is tagged with a tracking sticker. If the drive is insecure it will be locked away until it can be wiped or destroyed. Every time an action is performed that might affect a hard drive, this is recorded in the Fris system, a software package we developed for precisely this task. This allows us to say with perfect accuracy what has happened to every drive entering our facilities and report this back to our customers in detail. The same instructions and procedures apply for on-site data destruction.

The standard process

There are two ways that hard drives can enter our facilities: either inside systems (PC’s, notebooks, servers, ...) or as loose drives. Depending on this, either the standard or the bulk process is used. In the standard process the drives will, if possible, be erased inside the units they arrived in.

Arrival

We assign a unique load number to each and every collection. When the shipment arrives at our premises, we perform a visual check of the pallets and assign each a unique pallet number, which links to the load number.

Inventory

When items are taken from a pallet, this label is scanned first and tracking stickers with a unique barcode are printed for and applied to each item. This creates a direct link between the item and the pallet it arrived on, and by extension with the load and client information.

Check-in

The barcodes are scanned and externally observable data - such as serial number, brand and model - is recorded in the Fris system. We enforce the use of barcode scanning equipment where possible to minimize transcription errors. This data is used for our preliminary (inventory) reports. Based on this data a decision is made whether to continue processing the item or to tear it down for parts. In either case we guarantee data security.

Processing & Data Wipe

Next, all systems designated for further processing are attached to an isolated network where Blancco software is loaded on each machine via network boot. The Blancco software packet performs a high quality data wipe in which every bit on the hard drive(s) is overwritten multiple times by randomized patterns of ones and zeros. Our standard procedure is to run three consecutive wipes of the entire hard drive using a certified algorithm (HMG Infosec No. 5. (baseline)). The Blancco software also does a hardware analysis and the result of this (as well as detailed information about the hard drives and the performed wipe) is automatically imported back into our Fris system. If any part of the hard drive could not be wiped for any reason whatsoever (e.g. bad sectors, or a problem with the original system) the hard drive will be removed from the system and its serial number will be recorded. It will then be given a barcode with a unique identifier (the Media Tracking Number or MTN) and it will subsequently be either degaussed and destroyed or wiped in another machine (if the problem was with the system rather than the hard drive). Until this is done the hard drive will be locked up in a secure storage area with limited access. The unique identifier links back to the system the hard drive was removed from and thus the load and client information. If the wipe was successful, the blancco data is checked and amended by operators.

Tear Down

If the systems have low specifications or show outside signs of damage, they are filtered out after the check-in. Systems are then disassembled and their hard drives removed and recorded in the same way as we do with defect machines during normal processing. Hard drives have their serial numbers recorded and are tagged with a barcode sticker with unique identifier and then marked for either destruction or to be wiped on our data jig.

Data Jig

Our data jigs are designated wiping stations where multiple hard drives can easily be connected and wiped using Blancco. During this wipe the Media Tracking Numbers are scanned into Blancco so that the wipe information can be recorded in the Fris system. Otherwise the wipe is the same as we perform on standalone systems.

Hard drive destruction

All drives that either cannot be fully wiped (due to bad or locked sectors) or that are too low spec for re-use are degaussed and shredded. During this process the drives are subjected to a very strong fluctuating magnetic field that will scramble all magnetically recorded data on the disk platters. There is no known way to retrieve data from drives afterwards. Degaussed Media will be stored at the Flection location. When sufficient volume (min. 5 tons) of degaussed media is in stock, guided transport is arranged to our downstream ewaste handling vendor in order to shred these media. Upon request Flection will be able to invite Clients to attend this shredding action. As always these operations are recorded in the Fris system for reporting and tracking purposes.

The Bulk Process

If loose hard drives arrive at our facilities, the process is slightly different. In this case a Media Tracking Sticker is printed and attached as soon as they are taken from the pallets (much like systems receive a tracking sticker). The hard drives then pass check-in where the serial number and other information is recorded after which they are locked away in a secure storage area awaiting either wiping on our data jigs or destruction.

Reporting

Since every action is recorded we can report in detail what has happened to hard drives entering our facilities. We offer a number of reports from simple summaries (see figure 10) to detailed listings of every processed system and hard drive. The minimum information that we report for each HDD is its serial number and the actions undertaken. If the hard drive was wiped with Blancco (as opposed to being destroyed without wiping), we also report its specification. This includes, but is not limited to, the bus (IDE, SCSI, ...), format (3.5”, 2.5”, ...), brand and model, size and number of good and bad sectors. These detailed listings can be provided in either excel or PDF formats.