The State of New Jersey very nearly auctioned off dozens of computers containing sensitive data – and they almost certainly have done so in the past. This was the first time that the state comptroller’s office thought to look at the disposition of the equipment that was to be auctioned.
If your company is looked to get rid of old equipment, it is imperative that you check it for data first. This includes desktops and laptops, of course, but also devices like networked printers or fax servers that may contain a hard drive. For wiping data and leaving the drive usable by the buyer, I recommend DBAN. If that drive doesn’t need to be usable in the future, I suggest one of these, or perhaps a giant hammer.
