Free Drive-Thru Destruction of Computer Hard Drives

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The County of Maui will be holding a free, drive-thru hard drive and backup tape destruction and disposal service on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in observance of October as Cyber Security Awareness Month.

The event will be held in the lower parking lot behind the Kalana O Maui County building from 10 a.m. to noon.  Access to the parking area under the County building will be from Kaohu Street (just below the High Street intersection).

Residents are urged to remove the hard drive from any old computers, laptops, printers or other electronic devices and bring just the hard drive(s) to the event, where they can hand their hard drives over to members of the County’s Information Technology Services Division.

IT staff will destroy the drives and make sure they are disposed of properly. Backup tapes will be thoroughly wiped of any information. An information table with cyber security materials also will be available at the event.

“This service is especially important because anyone can access your hard drive if you just throw it away,” said Jacob Verkerke, the County’s Chief Technology Officer. “Even if you delete important information like bank statements, account numbers and social security information, someone who knows what they are doing can always find a way to retrieve it if they have your hard drive, even on a cell phone.”

Besides the free hard drive and backup tape destruction event, visitors to the county building are encouraged to check out educational material on cyber safety that will be displayed in the lobby through the end of October.

The IT Division encourages the public to read more about how they can protect themselves from cyber risks, at home and at work. Cyber risks include identity theft, cyber predators and cyber attacks at the workplace.

For additional computer security, computer users are reminded to always:

• Set strong passwords and don’t share them with anyone.
• Keep your operating system, browser, and other critical software optimized by installing updates.
• Maintain an open dialogue with your family, friends, and community about Internet safety.
• Limit the amount of personal information you post online and use privacy settings to avoid sharing information widely.
• Be cautious about what you receive or read online—if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.