The Incident: Lost Backup Tapes
The breach involved the loss of unencrypted backup tapes being transported to one of Iron Mountain's secure facilities. Among the clients affected were financial institutions and healthcare organisations. The tapes — containing confidential financial records, PII, and sensitive healthcare details — were never recovered.
Public and Regulatory Response
Iron Mountain was criticised for failing to implement adequate encryption protocols for the tapes it was transporting. The incident triggered legal action, with some affected organisations suing Iron Mountain for negligence. Though no large fines were publicly reported, the breach dented Iron Mountain's reputation as a trusted data storage and destruction provider.
Conclusion
At NTERA, we eliminate the risk of data device loss during transport by carrying out all physical destruction of data on site. Clients can witness data device destruction in person or via live video feed, and all devices are registered with certificates of destruction provided. Shredded materials are entirely recycled by our partners in Europe.