Cyber Crime Continues to Rise

February 11, 2016

Cyber Crime Continues to Rise

If you’ve picked up a newspaper or watched the news on television over the last five years, you’re probably aware that identity theft is one of the fastest rising crimes in the United States. It was probably bound to happen, as more and more of our lives, including our financial transactions, are done digitally, criminals have followed close behind, and cyber crime is increasing dramatically. So you knew that, but did you know that identity theft now costs Americans nearly twice as much as property theft? In a recent report the U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics found that total losses attributed to identity theft in 2012 were $24.6 billion, compared to $13.9 billion for property theft crimes. One would imagine that those numbers are only going to rise over the next decade.

Cyber Crime – is there an End in Sight?

There are plenty of studies that show that the crime rate is falling in the U.S., but many of those studies can be construed as inaccurate, as there still isn’t a great way of measuring cyber crime. An article from last year in phys.org had the following two quotes:

“Crime reporting has to be updated for the cyber-era,” said researcher and dean of the UAlbany School of Criminal Justice Alan Lizotte. “Property crime that remains underreported because it’s online crime shapes our response to it, particularly the response of law enforcement—what’s hidden stays hidden, yet continues to be a real, growing threat.”

“Recent data breaches targeting major US retailers and, more disturbingly perhaps, health-care providers, are evidence that we’ve reached a new frontier in criminal behavior,” said UAlbany criminal justice school researcher Giza Lopes. “Crime control is far from keeping up—a deficit that spans from inadequate measurement to jurisdictional inability to deal with a problem that spills over physical and national boundaries.”

Clearly cyber crime is on the rise and the ways to keep track of it haven’t quite caught up yet. What this means for organizations however, is that it’s pretty obvious that the need for data security is more important than ever. Maxxum’s recent research study revealed that over 40 percent of companies sometimes use disposal methods outside of a professional technology disposal service—including equipment donations and giving equipment to employees.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with donating or gifting old technology, but we can’t stress enough how important it is to have that technology wiped clean of information beforehand. Simply deleting material isn’t nearly enough. Drives need to be sanitized and wiped clean to insure that your sensitive information isn’t leaving your building in your old technology assets.

Organizations should make sure they receive documented transfer of custody and indemnification from their technology asset disposal company (we’ve outlined a few other key things to expect from a technology asset disposal company for reference here).

At Maxxum, we’re committed to smart, strategic partnerships with our clients. We stay up-to-date on laws and regulations regarding data privacy and environmental responsibility. We develop and support industry best practices in compliance, remarketing, recycling and reporting.

Maxxum Conducts Tech Disposal Research Study

February 3, 2016

tech disposal research study

Maxxum recently conducted a tech disposal research study with a simple objective in mind: We wanted to understand your world and how we can make technology disposal easier and safer given the challenges you face in today’s digital environment.

The overriding result of this study revealed that organizations still engage in risky technology disposal behavior, even as data breaches continue to increase in frequency and severity. We were quite happy to find that Maxxum customers rate our services more positively as compared to other technology companies, especially in the key areas of recycling, security, and compliance— which are cited as the most meaningful to organizations.

In this ever-evolving digital age it’s increasingly important to dispose of technology assets using a safe and compliant program. At Maxxum, we’re committed to helping you retire your technology in a documented, secure, and sustainable way.

Tech Disposal Research Proves the Importance of Proper Asset Disposal

Our tech disposal research study gathered responses from highly regulated/risk adverse organizations including health care, insurance, medical device MFG, financial services and education.

The most alarming data uncovered from our research is that 40 percent of respondents stated that they use disposal methods outside of a professional tech disposal service, including equipment donations and giving away old computers, monitors, etc. to employees. Just because your office is done with a computer, that doesn’t mean the secure information it holds isn’t still available.

We stress to our clients and say elsewhere here on our website: You may be vulnerable to legal ramifications if you don’t dispose of your data and drive assets properly. If your sensitive data leaks, you’ll have to answer to the law and your customers.

As one might expect, the most important elements for organizations, the key drivers, are: process and documents, recycling and reuse and security at destination. We’re happy to report that Maxxum customers ranked our service particularly high in those three areas versus other companies.

To see more of the tech disposal research study survey results, contact us for a copy of our white paper.