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CompTIA

SK0-004 · Question #475

An administrator is decommissioning a company's old accounting system and will be sending all the hardware to an off-site recycler. Which of the following is the BEST method for the administrator to…

The correct answer is D. Physically destroy the drives, and then send the drives to the recycler. When decommissioning hardware sent to a third-party recycler, physical destruction is the only method that guarantees stored data cannot be recovered by any means.

Security and disaster recovery

Question

An administrator is decommissioning a company's old accounting system and will be sending all the hardware to an off-site recycler. Which of the following is the BEST method for the administrator to ensure no company data will be exposed before sending drives to the recycler?

Options

  • ADelete both the files and the folders from the hard drives, and then send them to the
  • BAfter logging out and powering down the server, send the drives to the recycler
  • CFormat all drives using the OS, and then send the drives to the recycler
  • DPhysically destroy the drives, and then send the drives to the recycler

How the community answered

(38 responses)
  • A
    3% (1)
  • B
    5% (2)
  • C
    3% (1)
  • D
    89% (34)

Why each option

When decommissioning hardware sent to a third-party recycler, physical destruction is the only method that guarantees stored data cannot be recovered by any means.

ADelete both the files and the folders from the hard drives, and then send them to the

Deleting files and folders only removes directory entries and marks disk space as available - the underlying data remains on the platters and is fully recoverable with standard forensic utilities.

BAfter logging out and powering down the server, send the drives to the recycler

Powering down a server does nothing to erase data from the hard drives - all stored data remains intact and accessible once the drives are removed and connected to another system.

CFormat all drives using the OS, and then send the drives to the recycler

A standard OS-level format rewrites only the file system metadata structures and does not overwrite all data sectors, leaving the majority of data recoverable with widely available forensic software.

DPhysically destroy the drives, and then send the drives to the recyclerCorrect

Physical destruction renders the storage media completely unreadable, making data recovery impossible even with advanced forensic tools. This is the only method that provides absolute assurance no company data can be exposed once the hardware leaves organizational control, which is the requirement when sending drives to an off-site recycler.

Concept tested: Secure data sanitization before hardware disposal

Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-88/rev-1/final

Topics

#data destruction#drive disposal#decommissioning#data security

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