How to Recycle Business Electronics with Confidence

Mitigate Cyber Liability with Suggestions from The Nowell Agency

In today’s day and age, you can never be too cautious about protecting your business and your customers. You take great strides to operate machinery safely, put out wet floor signs, and keep your computer up-to-date with security software. But when it is time to replace old electronics, do you consider what happens to the data still on the hard drives? If your system is up and running smoothly, it’s easier to think about the risks you face and seek adequate protection. And yet, we often downplay any risks of unused hardware. That is a big mistake.

Ensure your data is secure by choosing to use a certified recycler who can properly wipe out and dispose of your old laptops, computer towers, or tablets. Remember that cyber insurance for your Texas company is a crucial component of a comprehensive data protection policy. The knowledgeable brokers at The Nowell Agency are ready to assist you in purchasing the best coverage for your enterprise’s needs. Please talk with us today about hacksurance, extortion coverage, or computer data loss and restoration.

Make Data Security Top Priority when Getting Rid of Electronics

Electronic components in our computers often have small bits of toxic materials like lead, cadmium, and mercury in them. Recycling is the best choice instead of the landfill, but how do you safely and securely get rid of business computers?

1. Choose an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler. These are both industry-leading certifications that cover environmental responsibility, data security, and occupational health and safety. A recycler with one of these certifications has taken steps to ensure your electronics will be dealt with in an environmentally sound way, while securely deleting the data it holds.
2. Are you comfortable with the equipment being reused? A certified recycler can protect your data in one of three ways:
• Overriding it – Basically, they rewrite the hard drive’s memory sectors with zeros. In essence, it is wiped clean of old data.
• Degaussing it – Equipment like disks, tapes, and other magnetic storage devices have a big magnet called a degausser swiped over them to set the magnetic field back to a neutral state.
• Physically destroy it – Often, a shredder is used to destroy all hard drives so that they cannot be gathered and reused.
3. Keep your cyber insurance intact. Even after you take steps to dispose of old electronics successfully, you may still fall victim to a data breach. Active computers are still at risk. One lost or stolen laptop is all it takes. Protect your company and your customers’ private information with cyber insurance from The Nowell Agency.

Safeguard Your Growing Enterprise with Business Insurance from The Nowell Agency

Cover all your bases by responsibly recycling old electronics instead of throwing them away. Also, seek out a cyber insurance policy that protects you and your clients from the effects of a data breach. It is no longer an “if” but “when” you are attacked. Call an experienced broker from The Nowell Agency to obtain the best coverage for your needs at reasonable rates.

Call one of our offices near you to schedule a meeting with a knowledgeable and experienced Texas insurance broker at The Nowell Agency about cyber insurance coverage. Request a quote online.