State audit finds college generally sanitizes surplus IT equipment but recommends periodic testing

Olympia — At a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) I-900 subcommittee public hearing on Aug. 9, 2025, the Washington State Auditor's Office presented a performance audit finding that an unnamed Washington college generally removed or sanitized confidential data from surplus information-technology equipment, and recommended the college develop a documented procedure to periodically test sanitized equipment sold through auction.

The audit presentation, delivered by Olha Bilobron, senior performance auditor at the Washington State Auditor's Office, said the office examined 32 devices — including desktop and laptop computers, hard disks, iMacs and iPads — and conducted two separate verification tests. "We found that in all cases, hard drives had either been removed from the device or they had been properly sanitized," Bilobron told the subcommittee.

The audit evaluated the college's practices against the Media Sanitization and Disposal Standard developed by Washington Technology Solutions (WTS). That standard requires agencies to develop media sanitization and disposal procedures, select appropriate sanitization methods and test at least 10% of…