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Morse, the IT services and technology company, today stated that UK organisations need to ensure they are correctly and reliably disposing of sensitive data, or risk incurring sizeable fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). From April 6th, the ICO will be able to impose fines of up to £500,000 on organisations for serious data leaks or losses, a 100-times increase on the previous limit of £5,000. As a result, any data that is not properly destroyed could potentially cost an organisation hundreds of thousands of pounds, not to mention the cost to reputation and other threats, if it is lost. To help prevent this, Morse and its partners are offering on-site data destruction to organisations who want to make sure that they are wiping data effectively and leaving nothing to chance in reducing the risk of data loss.
“Sensitive data falling into the wrong hands is nothing new,” said Tim Turquand, consultant, Morse. “However, with the ICO’s new powers, the onus is on organisations themselves to take every possible precaution to ensure data cannot be stolen or lost at any point in its lifetime. As long as it exists, data is at risk of theft or loss. Therefore, the only way to make sure data is safe, either when it has passed its usefulness or when associated hardware is being retired, is to destroy it using specialist security measures.”
On-site data destruction is designed to ensure that sensitive data is destroyed and that destruction is fully accounted for. It provides an auditable register of all destroyed data so organisations know that nothing has slipped through the cracks. Data is wiped in compliance with Infosec, CESG and UK Government regulations, giving organisations assurance that the destruction achieves the highest levels of accreditation. Alternatively, the hard drives the data resides on can themselves be disposed of, being shredded down to particles no larger than 6mm in size. Since the destruction happens on-site, organisations can be sure that all data has been accounted for and none has been lost or misplaced en-route to disposal.
“Organisations need to marry the need to completely eliminate sensitive data with understandable concern about allowing that data to leave their premises,” said Chris Stevens, Director of Sales for Morse partner Sims Recycling Solutions. “No organisation can be a master of all trades, so attempting to eliminate their own sensitive data in-house can be an unreliable, uncertain process. On-site destruction gives these organisations the best of both worlds. They can monitor and audit the entire destruction process, make sure that not a single item of data leaves their hands before it is erased and at the same time be satisfied that the destruction itself has been carried out to a professional standard. Not only does this prevent the risk of data being lost in the first place: if an ICO investigation does ever become a reality, having solid data destruction policies will help organisations prove their dedication to data protection and avoid any punitive fines.”
About Sims Recycling Solutions
The world’s largest electronics recovery and recycling company, Sims Recycling Solutions offers a dedicated Lifecycle Services proposition to provide a secure and auditable recovery solution for surplus IT and Communications Equipment. In 2009 the Lifecycle Services operation recovered over 1.2 million IT units for re-use.
Meanwhile Sims Recycling Solutions also operates dedicated electronic recycling facilities. These operations use mechanical processes to maximize the recovery of resources from end of life equipment.
Sims provides cost effective, data secure, legally compliant services to OEMs, CEMs, compliance scheme operators, businesses and government organisations. For the secure handling of data, Sims complies with HMG IA Standard No.5 - Secure Sanitisation of Protectively Marked or Sensitive Information, Issue 3.1, October 2009. All its operations comply with ISO 9001 Quality Systems, 14001 Environment Systems and 18001 Health and Safety Systems.
Sims Recycling Solutions is a division of the world’s largest metals recycler, Sims Metal Management Limited. The Company's ordinary shares are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: SGM) and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SMS). It was named as one of the top 100 most sustainable corporations in the world at the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
About Morse plc
Morse plc (morse.com) is an IT services and technology company with design, delivery and support skills across a range of technology platforms and business applications. Established in 1983, Morse floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1999 and posted revenues of over £220m in the last financial year.
With over 25 years of experience in delivering enterprise technology products and services, we focus on driving cost and efficiency improvements throughout our customers’ IT infrastructure and asset lifecycles.
Morse has four primary operating divisions trading in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia.
• Infrastructure Services & Technology UK
• Infrastructure Services & Technology Spain
• Infrastructure Services & Technology Ireland
• Business Applications Services
Morse IS&T is an experienced and trusted IT services partner for large organisations in the UK. With over 600 staff across the country we deliver multi-platform skills, services and technologies in and around the data centre. These services drive sustainable cost savings and service improvements within customer IT functions. In addition, the IS&T team provides thought leadership and guidance across a wide range of technology requirements, from simple IT provisioning to complex IT transformation.
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dominic[.]sparkcomms.co.uk 
