14.6.1 Data Destruction

Learn about the ways to properly destroy data stored on storage drives.

There are two ways to destroy data: formatting and physical destruction.

Formatting

Formatting overwrites the data in the disk with new data. When performing a high-level format operation (using the tools provided by an OS), the pointers that store the location of the data on the disk are removed, but the data itself is still there and can be recovered using specialized software.

Low-level formatting takes every sector and track on the drive and sets them to zero, effectively actually erasing the data.

Physical Destruction

You can destroy it yourself, using one of four methods:

• Disk Shredding (exactly what it says it does)
• Drilling (a hole into the platters)
• Degaussing (strong ahh magnet)
• Incineration (usually outsourced and you get a COD)

#XIV

#Aplus