When it comes to disposing of old equipment it is necessary to get rid of any sensitive data on the machines.  This extra step will help you in the long run in terms of security.  The last thing you want to find out is that some of your old information was recovered by somebody and now it is in the wrong hands.

According to Tech Republic, “Ensure that you eliminate any accounts or other access control facilities that are associated with the decommissioned equipment. You don’t want an ex-employee still getting into his old workstation after he’s not supposed to have access to it any longer, and you don’t want lingering network access accounts used to remotely connect to the computer providing more “target surface” for security crackers when you don’t need the account at all any longer. You should generally do this first.”

If you have any questions about disposing of old equipment or are looking to upgrade to new machines, contact Marcus Networking at 602.427.5027.

Source: Chad Perrin, Tech Republic. (April 21, 2011). “10 things you should do to securely dispose of computers”.