Preventing Corporate Espionage with Hard Drive Shredding

By: Levi Hentges, Vice President / Development, SEAM
Corporate espionage isn’t just something that happens in movies—it’s a real and growing threat. Companies invest heavily in cybersecurity to protect their networks, yet many overlook a critical weak point: retired hard drives and storage devices. If these aren’t properly destroyed, competitors, cybercriminals, or bad actors could gain access to sensitive information that puts an organization’s success at risk.
What is Corporate Espionage?
Corporate espionage, also known as industrial spying, is the act of gathering confidential business information—legally or illegally—to gain a competitive advantage. This could include:
- Recovering deleted files from discarded hard drives
- Extracting financial records to gain insight into an organization’s strategy
- Accessing client or customer lists to poach accounts
- Uncovering proprietary research, designs, or trade secrets
- Exploiting employee or payroll data for phishing attacks or fraud
Even if an organization deletes files before disposing of a device, data is rarely ever truly erased unless the drive is properly wiped or physically destroyed. With readily available software, a competitor or cybercriminal could recover valuable information from a used hard drive, posing a serious risk to business operations.
Why Deleting Files Isn’t Enough
When a file is deleted or a hard drive is reformatted, the data isn’t actually removed—it’s simply marked as “free space.” Until that space is overwritten multiple times, the original information remains intact and can be restored with data recovery tools.
Organizations that throw away old computers or storage devices without proper destruction leave themselves vulnerable to data theft and regulatory violations. In industries dealing with sensitive information—such as healthcare, finance, and technology—the risks are even higher due to compliance requirements under HIPAA, GLBA, and other data protection laws.
Hard Drive Wiping vs. Hard Drive Shredding
To eliminate the risk of data recovery, businesses have two secure options:
- Certified Data Wiping: A process that permanently erases all information on a hard drive using specialized software. When performed to NIST 800-88 standards, this method ensures that data cannot be recovered while allowing the drive to be reused or resold.
- Hard Drive Shredding: Physically destroys the hard drive, making data recovery impossible. This method is often required for highly sensitive data, where complete destruction is the only way to ensure security. The shredded material is then responsibly recycled.
How to Protect Your Organization from Corporate Espionage
The best way to prevent corporate espionage through old storage devices is to implement a secure data destruction policy. Businesses should:
✔ Track all retired IT assets to ensure they are securely disposed of.
✔ Partner with a certified IT asset disposition (ITAD) provider that follows industry standards.
✔ Use hard drive wiping for devices that can be securely repurposed to potentially earn value back.
✔ Shred drives containing high-risk or regulated information to guarantee destruction.
✔ Obtain a verified certificate of destruction or data erasure for compliance documentation.
Choosing a Certified Data Destruction Provider
To fully eliminate the risk of corporate espionage through discarded hard drives, businesses should work with a certified ITAD provider. The right provider will ensure:
- Compliance with NIST 800-88 & NAID AAA Standards
- Secure Chain of Custody with Documented Proof of Destruction
- Responsible Recycling with Estewards and R2 Certifications to Ensure Safety & Security
For businesses in South Dakota and North Dakota, SEAM provides certified hard drive wiping and shredding services to eliminate data risks while ensuring compliance. Contact SEAM today to protect your organization from corporate espionage and unauthorized data recovery.
Levi Hentges is the Vice President / Development at SEAM. He helps clients build and manage their IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) programs to comply with legal, corporate and environmental requirements surrounding their technology devices; including asset recovery and resale, data destruction and secure electronics recycling.
SEAM provides IT recycling and data destruction services including onsite shredding and hard drive wiping to South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Schedule a pickup or contact us for more information.