A company is enrolled in a hard drive reuse program where decommissioned equipment is sold back to the vendor when it is no longer needed. The vendor pays more money for functioning drives than equipment that is no longer operational. Which method of data sanitization would provide the most secure means of preventing unauthorized data loss, while also receiving the most money from the vendor?
The most secure method of data sanitization, while ensuring the hard drive remains functional, is multi-pass wiping. Multi-pass wipes involve writing over the data multiple times with different patterns, significantly reducing the chances of data recovery. Unlike degaussing, which renders the drive inoperable, multi-pass wiping ensures the drive remains functional, thus allowing the company to receive more money from the vendor for operational drives.
I agree with given answer here "C" Degaussing - once a drive has been degaussed, it can no longer be used. Single Pass - replacing 0s and 1s might not be enough. With the right tools "in theory" some of the data can be recover Muti-Pass - Gives us that "peace of mind" the data has been permanetly deleted.
C is correct
But what about the storage device, itself? One of the biggest questions users have after degaussing their hard drive is can a degaussed hard drive be reused? No, they cannot. Once a hard drive or other storage device has been exposed to the degaussing process, the alterations made to the magnetic field will prevent the read heads from ever finding a magnetic reference point. Degaussing a drive irreversibly changes the device’s makeup so the drive can never again be used, let alone read.
C- Multi-pass wipes = data sanitization that involves writing over the data on a hard drive multiple times using a specific pattern of data.
D, most secure and the company still get the money
C is correct answer. Multi-pass. The question did not state what type of disks were present so cannot assume spinning disks only. As per other correct answers, degaussing would render disks unusable.
Agreed, C
Multiple Pass The need for multiple pass erasure dates back to a 1996 paper titled, Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory. The paper described the various ways a hacker could obtain data from magnetic media, even if the information on the drive had been erased. However, drives have changed over the years, leading some experts to state that multiple passes aren't necessary. The high stakes associated with security breaches have given many professionals a "just in case" mentality when it comes to hard drive erasure, though. Even if multiple passes aren't necessary, if it simply takes more time during the process of offloading old equipment, it's well worth it for the peace of mind it brings.
I meant to select C as my answer, I thought Degaussing but this disk is unusable after this disposal/erasure method is performed.
degaussing, which uses a powerful magnetic field to erase data. Degaussing is generally considered the most secure form of data erasure, as it is impossible to recover any data once it has been degaussed.
Answer is C
I agree with given answer here "C". Because Question has a limit "The vendor pays more money for functioning drives than equipment that is no longer operational". Degaussing make it can not be used, vendor must magnetizing before reuse. Otherwise I will choose D.
The most secure method of data sanitization in this scenario would typically be: D. Degaussing Degaussing involves exposing magnetic storage media to a strong magnetic field to completely erase the data. It's highly secure but renders the drives unusable for data storage. While multi-pass wipes (Option C) can also provide a high level of data sanitization, they may still leave traces of data on the drive, which might be recoverable with specialized techniques
Multi Pass might work for HDD.. but SSD and others does not... for More Money, and IT Security Professional would rather get the money that it takes but keep data safe, therefore Degaussing should always be the answer. Answer D.
From the official study guide: Degaussing a hard disk will normally destroy the electronics used to access the data. However, you won’t have any assurance that all the data on the disk has actually been destroyed. Someone could open the drive in a clean room and install the platters on a different drive to read the data. Purging is a more intense form of clearing that prepares media for reuse in less secure environments. It provides a level of assurance that the original data is not recoverable using any known methods. A purging process will repeat the clearing process multiple times and may combine it with another method, such as degaussing, to completely remove the data.
Degaussing basically disabled the drive