Blogs Apr 11, 2014 at 6:00 am

Comments

1
I think for a cash-strapped state that can't seem to get its revenue in line with its expenditures, $411,000 sounds like a nice chunk of change. That's like 4 teacher salaries.
2
Destroy the hard drives and recycle the rest.
3
If the surplus computers go through a single source for auditing (implies by the article) and reselling, that single source can be responsible to wipe data. It's not hard.
4
What @3 said

Or in binary on the HDD or SSD:

10101010101010101010

Three times
5
What @2 said. No computer should be sold with its hard drive. They are difficult to erase properly especially on older equipment which may not be generally functional. For buyers it's the most likely point of failure in any case.
6
Fletc3er and Dr. Z are correct. For average revenue of $40 per used computer, it's not worth it to do anything else. It takes hours or days to secure-overwrite a conventional hard drive, and solid-state drives require different procedures. Too many variables for a "Department of Corrections employee at the Airway Heights prison near Spokane" to handle in any case.
7
If only it were possible to hire people who could handle this type of problem. Why aren't there professionals who are skilled in this, this, technology of information? They would know what to do with old computers. The could have a whole, like ToI (technology of information) department. Maybe just TI for short. People know the "of" is there.

They could have an experienced TI manager who could ensure that the old computers were erased or destroyed or safety and economically recycled.

I bet in ten or twenty years, some universities will even offer degrees in TI to ensure that we have an adequate supply of skilled TI workers. Then these bad things would never happen.

We could even put them in charge of keeping hackers out!
8
> "If we are getting very little money for these computers and we have high risk," Kelly is quoted by The Olympian as saying, "then I think we have to stop."

The alternative to selling them is just throwing them away, data still on them ... this is just as bad a problem, except now you're not even making money on it. Trash or erase the drives, use sale profits to offset the cost. Hopefully you still run a profit.
9

Staples will recycle computer equipment for free, and also they will destroy the hard drives if asked.

10
It's not that hard - the drives should be removed and shredded; the rest can be sold. Honestly, the revenue is so low that just shredding it all and recycling the material is probably wisest. The current practice of filling shipping containers which are returning to the east/asia for horribly dangerous and environmentally destructive 'recycling' techniques isn't great either. If we can shred automobiles here and extract raw materials profitably, why not with computers?
11
@7, 10: Nobody said it was hard, but it can be hard to get people to follow procedures. (Just as it is hard to get people to back up their data...)

@1: The $400k was how much the equipment was sold for; it doesn't account for the costs of collecting it, wiping the drives, administration, etc. Given the risks it may indeed not be worth it.
12
Aren't you cute, @1? You think teachers get paid respectably. That's not 4 teachers' pay, it's closer to 10.
13
This is probably evidence that budget cuts --and greater network attacks & security problems-- are making work harder for government IT workers, such that those on the bottom, the Helpdesk kids, who are probably responsible for workstation disposal, can't or don't know to follow basic protocols.

Yes, better to pull and shred the drives, but that's a low priority compared to a user who's workstation is blue-screening because of the latest fucking IE update, or some virus.
14
Like others said, not worth it. Wiping drives is tricky and time consuming. Destroy drives and "recycle" the rest— quotes added because I know, I know... computer recycling. Not pretty.

@9 - retailers are just collection points for the state recycling program. There's a fee (state tax) built in to all eligible electronics. So your sorta right, but the state will ultimately pay for it regardless. I have no idea if recycling fees are imposed on whatever channel it buys computers through.

@12 - take home pay and cost of employee are different, bet @1 is probably pretty close.
15
Give a monkey a super powered magnet and a drill...
16
@15 - now I can't help but picture a monkey, gripping a drill which is magnetically fastened to the case of a mainframe, spinning at 3,000rpm.

Please wait...

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