4 ms·

is it rare the decommissioned machines are given back to the employee after cleanup?

darthrupert 3y ago
Depends on how the computers were procured. Leasing deals won’t allow that, for instance.
gvurrdon 3y ago
My org insists that the disks of all obsolete machines are destroyed and the rest of the hardware sent for disposal. I have a few systems that could be wiped and given away for charity but that’s not allowed. This seems incredibly wasteful to me.
- GhostWhisperer 3y ago
  seems a lot of orgs work on cargo-cult knowledge https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/568915862003933184 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/56891586200393318... (2015) https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1191771345362796544 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/11917713453627965... (2019) i think swift had another post about it a bit more recently but i cannot find it now if you encrypt the disk at the os level, you only need to throw away the keys, ie: reformat the drive. no need to physically erase as what is store is just noise once the keys are gone.
  - gvurrdon 3y ago
    Thanks for the links. I wonder if it’s entirely that, or if management fears that staff might somehow gain a benefit by taking obsolete hardware.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      There’s a temptation that is removed by destroying or selling to a liquidator - and it removes any chance of apparent favoritism: Steve got to take home that twelve CPU rack mount and I just got an old mouse. But even more common in large companies is that it’s all on leases and goes back to the leasing company to be liquidated on eBay; you can always find miles of three or five year old gear there.
      - GhostWhisperer 3y ago
        ebay being the access normaliser to this equipment doesn't sound too bad it substitutes the internal network/hierarchy bias for a mostly monetary one
    - GhostWhisperer 3y ago
      maybe there's no point for us to argue over the decisions of management

Depends on how the computers were procured. Leasing deals won’t allow that, for instance.

My org insists that the disks of all obsolete machines are destroyed and the rest of the hardware sent for disposal. I have a few systems that could be wiped and given away for charity but that’s not allowed. This seems incredibly wasteful to me.

GhostWhisperer 3y ago
seems a lot of orgs work on cargo-cult knowledge https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/568915862003933184 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/56891586200393318... (2015) https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1191771345362796544 https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/11917713453627965... (2019) i think swift had another post about it a bit more recently but i cannot find it now if you encrypt the disk at the os level, you only need to throw away the keys, ie: reformat the drive. no need to physically erase as what is store is just noise once the keys are gone.
- gvurrdon 3y ago
  Thanks for the links. I wonder if it’s entirely that, or if management fears that staff might somehow gain a benefit by taking obsolete hardware.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    There’s a temptation that is removed by destroying or selling to a liquidator - and it removes any chance of apparent favoritism: Steve got to take home that twelve CPU rack mount and I just got an old mouse. But even more common in large companies is that it’s all on leases and goes back to the leasing company to be liquidated on eBay; you can always find miles of three or five year old gear there.
    - GhostWhisperer 3y ago
      ebay being the access normaliser to this equipment doesn't sound too bad it substitutes the internal network/hierarchy bias for a mostly monetary one
  - GhostWhisperer 3y ago
    maybe there's no point for us to argue over the decisions of management