The security team has implemented new guidelines on how to handle sensitive information stored on workstations based on a past incident involving information found on donated workstations. Which of…

The correct answer is C. Write the drive with 1's and 0's three times. Writing the drive with 1s and 0s multiple times (a multi-pass overwrite, such as the DoD 5220.22-M standard) is the correct method for sanitizing a hard drive before donation. Simply deleting files (B) or removing partitions (D) only removes pointers to the data - the…

Hardware

Question

The security team has implemented new guidelines on how to handle sensitive information stored on workstations based on a past incident involving information found on donated workstations. Which of the following should be completed by technicians before donating the workstations?

Options

AInstall a new operating system
BDelete users' data before donation
CWrite the drive with 1's and 0's three times
DDelete all partitions of the hard drive

How the community answered

(17 responses)

A
12% (2)
B
6% (1)
C
76% (13)
D
6% (1)

Explanation

Writing the drive with 1s and 0s multiple times (a multi-pass overwrite, such as the DoD 5220.22-M standard) is the correct method for sanitizing a hard drive before donation. Simply deleting files (B) or removing partitions (D) only removes pointers to the data - the underlying data remains on the disk and can be easily recovered with forensic tools. Installing a new OS (A) also leaves prior data recoverable. A multi-pass overwrite ensures that the magnetic patterns representing old data are overwritten sufficiently to prevent recovery, making it the industry-standard approach for data sanitization before hardware disposal or donation.

Topics

#data sanitization#drive wiping#secure disposal#data destruction

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