An organization's data destruction guidelines should require hard drives containing personal data to go through which of the following processes prior to being crushed?

Question

Options

• ALow-level formatting
• BRemote partitioning
• CDegaussing
• DHammer strike

• A
  6% (2)
• B
  3% (1)
• C
  89% (32)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Degaussing is correct because it uses powerful magnetic fields to erase magnetically stored data at the hardware level, rendering the drive unreadable before physical destruction - ensuring no data survives the crushing process.

• A (Low-level formatting) is wrong because formatting, even at a low level, doesn't reliably erase all data; specialized recovery tools can often reconstruct it, making it insufficient for personal data destruction compliance.
• B (Remote partitioning) is wrong because partitioning reorganizes how a drive is structured, not how data is erased - it's not a data destruction technique at all.
• D (Hammer strike) is wrong because it's the step after degaussing - physically crushing or striking a drive alone can still leave data-bearing platters intact and partially readable.

Memory tip: Think of "degauss before you destroy" - the magnetic wipe ensures data is gone even if crushing is incomplete, just like you shred paper before recycling it.

No community discussion yet for this question.