Ulster Shredders has received successful validation from ADISA, the world’s leading certification body for data sanitisation services and products, further enhancing its offering of high performing shredding solutions, removing all opportunities of data breach and reuse of data bearing media.
The use of shredding to destroy hard drives and protect data is widespread and is generally confirmed as being the most effective method of data destruction. However, it is important that machines are validated as inadequate shredding processes allow a clear exploitable vulnerability in data bearing media.
ADISA Founder Steve Mellings says: “Where shredding is concerned, many organisations are dismissive of the need of verification as there is an assumption that ‘shredded drives’ have indeed been shredded but I’ve personally witnessed cages of media which are physically still intact when they should’ve been shredded and NAND cells being unimpacted by a shred. Oversight of this process and the use reputable companies is essential, so we welcomed Ulster Shredder’s approach to have independent validation of their products.”
ADISA visited Ulster Shredders headquarters and performed controlled shreds on two of its shredding machines, the U-15 and U-45SB using pre-prepared magnetic and solid-state drives. The shredded particulate was then analysed for shred-size verification as well as from a data recovery perspective, to ensure data was destroyed and irrecoverable.
Sales and Service Director Paul Atkinson of Ulster Shredders explains: “We have clients who require particular shred sizes for the output from our products and typically we have provided them with assurance due to specification of screen to be used. However, this isn’t the whole story as you still get larger shred particles than the actual aperture of the screen. For this reason, we approached ADISA and asked how they could help us provide assurance for our customers.”
ADISA have produced detailed test reports, including tables of shred size. This enabled the adherence to specific requirements set out in the Information Technology Standard ISO (International Standard Organisation) 21964 to be verified. This standard defines the terms and principles for the destruction of data carriers.
Added Paul: “Speaking on behalf of the engineering and sales team, I am thrilled to see that our machines meet the requirements of the ADISA. Confidential Shredding is a key market for us, and we understand the importance of destroying personal/corporate data. From the early stages of design to our shredders being installed, it’s reassuring knowing that our machines meet the requirements and will successful destroy any opportunity of fraudulent use.”
Launched in 2010, ADISA Certification has been certifying data sanitisation products including software overwriting and hardware destruction tools for over 10 years. It is also the scheme owner for the Asset Recovery Standard 8.0 which was formally recognised by the UK Information Commissioner in 2021.
To find out more information regarding confidential shredding, you can speak to either Paul Atkinson at [email protected] or Jude Diamond at [email protected]
