Does that copier you just upgraded contain confidential information?

Police data on copiers causes city to scramble

CBS report prompts worry on disclosure

By Brian Meyer and Jay Rey

Buffalo officials are trying to figure out why police information was left on the hard drives of two of the department’s old copy machines, which have turned up as part of an investigation by CBS News.

CBS, which this week telecast a report about the resale of used digital photocopiers, purchased four at New Jersey warehouse. Two of them had been leased by the Buffalo Police Department.

Stored on one of the hard drives were details involving domestic-violence complaints along with a list of wanted sex offenders.

Read the complete story here  or View the CBS Investigates Report here
 
I don't know about you, but this revelation would be concerning to me if I were a C-level executive at any company.  Considering the number of high-tech, medical, financial & legal organizations in Plano, Frisco, Carrollton & the surrounding areas, my first thought is that there is a LOT of sensitive material floating around in the warehouse of every copier distributor in the metroplex, & to a much larger & worse extent, copier wholesalers that either re-sell or strip for parts once a machine comes off lease. 
 
This is actually a concern that recently came up with one of my clients in the banking business, and we are in the process of working on a few things for them.  One of the options is to add the DOSS (Data Overwrite Security System) to all of their Ricoh & Lanier copiers & mfp's.  This feature is an extremely affordable option for the peace of mind in knowing that their confidential information will not be compromised.  Some models also offer a removeable hard drive option, but the only way to ensure that this data is not compromised is to purchase the hard drives at the end of the lease & either clean them or keep them into perpetuity. 
 
But, what about the Konica Minolta, Xerox & Canon products that we are replacing at some of their branches?  This one is a little tricky, which is why it is a work in progress.  We are in the process of  exploring partnerships with a few different companies that specialize in data security and hard drive cleansing so that we can offer this as a pre-return option to our clients.  Obviously, there are a number of moving pieces in finding an ideal solution for this, because leasing companies want the machine either back in their hands or in the warehouse of the wholesaler that they sold the machine to for a low, pre-negotiated price within a specific time window.
 
Since I understand that this is a concern to so many businesses in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, I am actually having a meeting to discuss this very topic with the owner of my company next week, and I hope to be able to share some updated information with my current & future clients in the near future.