"All used data storage products, whether optical discs, flash, hard drives, or tape media, must be properly retired and disposed of in order to protect against possible data leaks. Despite the data storage industry's warnings, companies continue to put themselves at risk. Imation wants to remind data centers that the only way to securely dispose of used tape media is through a reputable tape destruction service that provides a 'certificate of destruction.'" said Subodh Kulkarni, vice president, Global Commercial Business, R&D and Manufacturing, Imation. "Tests in our lab of more than 100 commercially obtained tape cartridges confirmed that significant data 'leakage' is occurring as a result of the practice of 'recertifying' instead of properly destroying used tape. We take this issue seriously, because Imation's business is centered on security in data storage and our products are being resold and reused in ways that can compromise a company's information."

Data leaks occur when data storage managers, who increasingly face budget constraints, sell or give tape cartridges containing company data to a reseller who claims to erase or destroy the data. The reseller often 'recertifies' the cartridges without fully erasing the data then sells them back into the market. In many cases, the data storage manager is unaware of this practice as it is these cartridges that often contain confidential company and customer data. Imation, the world's largest supplier of magnetic data storage tape, has determined through its testing that many tape cartridges, especially those with magnetic servo tracks, cannot in fact be completely wiped clean. With today's high-capacity cartridges, significant amounts of data may be left intact and exposed to unwanted breaches. A typical tape cartridge can store hundreds of gigabytes of data, with the most current high-end cartridges holding up to a terabyte of data. An estimated one million cartridges are 'recertified' each year.