NAID Launches Onsite Sanitization Certification Program

The board of directors for the Phoenix-based National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) has approved the launch of the NAID Certification Program for Onsite Sanitization Operations.

“NAID is simply responding to the needs of the marketplace,” NAID Certification Rules Committee Chairperson Angie Singer Keating says of the new certification program. “The association’s responsibility as the most knowledgeable and aggressive proponent of data-related vendor security qualifications makes it our responsibility to step into areas where secure processes and quality control are critical.”

Keating is CEO of Tyrone, Pa.-based Reclamere, a data security and IT asset management company,

“Many clients are now opting to have sanitization services performed on site, prior to returning leased equipment or having it transported elsewhere for processing,” NAID CEO Bob Johnson says. “While at first blush such on-site services potentially offer more control, remote process validation and a range of other important considerations can be problematic when sanitization is conducted in the field.”

To address the challenges associated with providing electronic media sanitization in the field, NAID says it has concentrated on employee screening and validation of employment and training in addition to enhancing the emphasis on quality control verification and documentation.

NAID says it has already begun initial audits for the new program and expects demand to grow in the coming months.

As with all of NAID’s certifications, scheduled and random unannounced audits by NAID’s trained and accredited third-party security professionals are part of the program. NAID AAA Certification of Sanitization Operations is a voluntary program available to members that verifies the security and effectiveness of sanitization services offered by IT asset management firms, electronics recycling companies and others. Auditors verify the effectiveness of sanitization of hard drives and solid state devices using forensic examination of control devices as well as devices randomly removed from the applicant’s processed inventory.