Sun Announces New Data Erasure Service

Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced the Sun Data Protection Services, Data Erasure, a new on-site service to help enable customers to remain compliant with internal corporate data erasure policies during the removal, redeployment or relocation of equipment containing sensitive data. The service also empowers customers’ to become compliant with the ever increasing policies of regulatory agencies for the removal or destruction of data, by providing a global, audit-ready solution that erases data at the platter level.

Data security is an issue IT administrators must address, and the topic is as pertinent as ever due to increasing pressure from government regulations being put in place to protect privacy and prevent fraud. Company security policies must ensure that businesses remain competitive and compliant with government requirements. In response to this, Sun’s new Data Protection Services, Data Erasure provides a scalable, global solution for eradicating non-critical data from customers’ hard disks, Sun Data Protection Services, Data Erasure meets or exceeds the requirements of most company security policies by standardizing on the stringent DOD 5220-22M policy for data erasure. In addition, Sun’s software enabled service can scale to match the policies of up to 14 different erasure standards to satisfy both public and private security regulations.

“An effective data destruction policy can create a competitive advantage for businesses,” said Michelle Dennedy, chief data strategy and privacy officer, Sun Microsystems. “It frees you up to focus on today and the future and to stop worrying about yesterday’s inventory. Holding on to old data not only opens you up for undue risk of loss, it allows old technology to lie around and exposes you to vulnerabilities that you may not even be able to track.”

During the life cycle of datacenter equipment it can be relocated due to corporate change, redeployed in eco-recycling efforts, returned to the factory for scheduled maintenance or repair and decommissioned at the end of it’s purposeful life. In addition, industry research has indicated that most midsize to large corporations will replace about 25-33 percent of their IT equipment on an annual basis (IDC 2007). Each event in the equipment life cycle can expose sensitive corporate or customer data to possible breach or compromise. Most other data erasure solutions only provide regional support or require shipment of assets off-site to execute the data erasure which adds risk of data exposure. Sun’s Data Protection Services, Data Erasure helps customers demonstrate point to point control over their equipment by performing erasures on-site at a customer location. On-site erasure adds more control to a customer’s security policy and working with Sun’s global support organization helps them standardize compliant erasure procedures at all their locations worldwide.

Sun uses the data erasure service internally to prepare company assets for reassignment and redeployment. “When we work with a government client to transfer equipment from one resource to another, we use the Data Protection Services Erasure to ensure that our services team has no data compromise,” said Drew Hughes, technical program manager, Sun Microsystems.

Key benefits delivered by Sun Data Protection Services, Data Erasure include:

• Helps enable more secure technology migrations and upgrades
• Simplifies the process by providing a single point of contact for all erasure needs
• Demonstrates compliance to security protocol and regulatory requirements
• Mitigates risk of data exposure with lost or compromised equipment
• Provides an audit ready report for proof of compliance, available in multiple languages