WAILUKU – In observance of October as Cyber Security Awareness Month, the County of Maui will hold a free drive-through hard drive destruction and disposal service in the lower parking lot behind the Kalana O Maui County building on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The service will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, with access to the parking area under the county building from Kaohu Street (just below the intersection with High Street).

Residents are urged to remove the hard drive from any old computers, laptops, printers or other electronic devices and bring just the hard drive(s) to the event, where they can hand their hard drives over to members of the county’s Information Technology (IT) Services Division.

IT staff will destroy the drives and make sure they are disposed of properly. An information table with cyber security materials will also be available at the event.

“This service is especially important, because anyone can access your hard drive if you just throw it away,” said Jacob Verkerke, the county’s chief technology officer.

“Even if you delete important information like bank statements, account numbers and Social Security information, someone who knows what they are doing can always find a way to retrieve it if they have your hard drive.”

In addition to the free hard drive destruction event, visitors to the county building are encouraged to check out some educational material on cyber safety that will be displayed in the lobby through the end of October.

The IT Division encourages people to read more about how they can protect themselves from cyber risks at home and at work. Cyber risks include identity theft, cyber predators and cyber attacks at the workplace.

For additional computer security, computer users are reminded to always:

1) Set strong passwords and don’t share them with anyone.

2) Keep your operating system, browser and other critical software optimized by installing updates.

3) Maintain an open dialogue with your family, friends and community about Internet safety.

4) Limit the amount of personal information you post online and use privacy settings to avoid sharing information widely.

5) Be cautious about what you receive or read online; if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

For more information on protecting yourself from cyber risks, visit www.mauicounty.gov/cybersecurity.