Blancco Report talks data disposition, danger of stolen devices

BOSTON and LONDON — Blancco Technology Group, a provider of data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, has released new research into how regulations, AI, and environmental, social and governance goals are changing enterprise data disposition.

The Blancco 2025 State of Data Sanitization Report is based on the responses of 2,000 cybersecurity, IT and sustainability leaders from North America, Europe, and APAC. It unpacks how some of the world’s largest organizations are navigating end-of-life data management amid changing regulations, environmental targets, security strategies and AI adoption.

Among key findings, the report shows that stolen drives and devices are a more common method of data loss than either ransomware or stolen credentials.

“Improper data disposal is a hidden risk—and it’s not talked about enough,” said Lou DiFruscio, CEO of Blancco. “Every business IT leader needs to understand its responsibilities, seek out the best practices that maintain compliance with data privacy regulations, and secure data at the finish line. Our State of Data Sanitization Report acknowledges what organizations are dealing with now, then gives compliance, IT, and ESG teams insight into how those issues affect their approach to end-of-life data and asset disposition. Many large businesses get it, though our report confirms there is still work to do to meet today’s data protection obligations.”

The desire to meet these obligations results in unnecessary e-waste, with functional devices and drives destroyed to protect any sensitive data stored. Depending on the type of device, respondents claim that up to 47% of devices destroyed for data security reasons are still functional and 25% of laptops and desktops, and 19% of data center assets, are refurbished without certified erasure—increasing the potential for data loss. In fact, for 17% of the respondents that had experienced a breach or leak, data compromise was caused by redeployed devices or drives that still had sensitive data from prior use.

Most of the survey respondents claim that environmental goals remain as important as ever. In fact, 90% said that sustainability has at least a moderate impact on data disposal, and 77% agree that IT and sustainability teams are working closely on data management and the data erasure tools to meet sustainability goals.

The Blancco 2025 State of Data Sanitization Report is available to download here.