220-1002 · Question #335
The medical records department of a local hospital recently upgraded its computers. A technician needs to ensure the data stored on the hard drives is unrecoverable. Which of the following methods…
The correct answer is D. Degauss. Degaussing exposes a hard drive to a powerful magnetic field that randomizes and destroys the magnetic domains used to store data, rendering the drive completely unreadable and the data unrecoverable - the drive is also rendered permanently inoperable. This is the strongest…
Question
The medical records department of a local hospital recently upgraded its computers. A technician needs to ensure the data stored on the hard drives is unrecoverable. Which of the following methods should the technician use to meet the requirement?
Options
- AStandard format
- BLow-level format
- COverwrite
- DDegauss
How the community answered
(57 responses)- A7% (4)
- B4% (2)
- C2% (1)
- D88% (50)
Explanation
Degaussing exposes a hard drive to a powerful magnetic field that randomizes and destroys the magnetic domains used to store data, rendering the drive completely unreadable and the data unrecoverable - the drive is also rendered permanently inoperable. This is the strongest method for HDD data sanitization and meets strict compliance requirements (like HIPAA for medical records). A standard format (A) only removes file system pointers, leaving data easily recoverable with basic tools. A low-level format (B) is more thorough but still may not meet high-security destruction requirements. Overwriting (C) can be effective but is time-consuming and may miss bad sectors. Degaussing is the definitive, certified method for irreversible HDD destruction in regulated industries.
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