Electronic devices by the million have been handed back to employers as people have been made redundant or furloughed during the 2020 pandemic. This is according to an IT asset disposal company which commissioned market research. That suggested that of those people who have been made redundant or furloughed since the COVID-19 crisis started, about one in four (26pc) have had to give back electronic devices to work. And in half of those cases, they said that these devices had personal information on them including their bank and credit card details, personal passwords, and photos.
The number of devices returned to employers is set to increase, says DSA Connect. Harry Benham, Chairman of DSA Connect said: “There is a mountain of electronic devices that have been returned to employers due to staff being made redundant or furloughed during the crisis. Employers should be looking to clean these devices professionally, ensuring that all data is wiped from them so that they can be reused by staff or sold. Sadly, in too many cases this is not done properly, and new users inadvertently find themselves able to access confidential data they shouldn’t be seeing.”
The firm asked the market research company Consumer Intelligence to interview 1,029 people between October 16 and 18. Those interviewed represented the demographic profile of the UK; some 614 people interviewed were in employment.
About DSA Connect
It provides an IT end-of-life service for the removal and data eradication from IT equipment and electronic devices by using tools certified by the UK official CESG and approved by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Depending on the quantity and type of equipment for disposal, DSA Connect offers a rebate on re-saleable assets. The company was set up in 2011 to partner the Ministry of Defence in developing the MoD’s asset disposal service. Visit https://www.dsa-connect.co.uk/.
