Citing a recent article in Insurance Journal about the record number of data breaches reported by New Yorkers last year, John Shegerian, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of ERI, the nation’s leading recycler of electronic waste and the world’s largest cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company, claims we are just seeing the beginning and that hardware data security remains a “significant threat to national security.”
In the Insurance Journal article, the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) reports it received record complaints of data hacks in 2017 – the highest number reported since NYAG started receiving data breach notices in 2006. In the report, the office stated in 2017, companies and other entities reported 1,583 data breaches to NYAG, exposing the personal records of 9.2 million New Yorkers, which is quadruple the number of New Yorkers impacted only one year before.
Shegerian claimed that the numbers are an indicator of an exponentially increasing upward trend – and said that 2017’s record quantity of criminal breaches are only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of the potential problems. He added that mining of data on discarded devices is a huge and unchecked part of the problem, explaining that hardware hacking is more common than ever because many organizations that claim to recycle electronics and destroy data are actually shipping the devices abroad.
“When a device is responsibly recycled here in the US, part of that process should always include complete, physical data destruction,” said Shegerian. “Unethical and illegal shipping of e-waste abroad has become an additional layer to the hardware security issue because it leads to the wholesale liquidation of our national security and the privacy of the corporations and individuals of the United States. Recycling these devices is important, but it must be done the right way.”
Shegerian also noted that ERI currently provides the only dually certified nationwide solution offering 100 percent guaranteed data destruction for consumer electronics devices, e-waste, and hardware.