CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005)Security and Disaster RecoveryMedium
A company is upgrading its data center and needs to dispose of several older tape drives and backup tapes that contain highly sensitive intellectual property. The security policy mandates that data on these media must be irrevocably destroyed to prevent any possibility of recovery. Which of the following methods would best meet this requirement for magnetic tapes?
- ARe-labeling and reusing tapes
- BLow-level formatting
- CSecure overwriting with zeros
- DDegaussing
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Degaussing
Degaussing uses a strong magnetic field to completely scramble the magnetic domains on a tape, rendering the data unrecoverable. This is the most effective method for irrevocably destroying data on magnetic media like tapes.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Re-labeling and reusing tapes does not destroy the data; it simply makes it available for new data to be written over, which may not be secure enough.
- B. Low-level formatting might obscure data but does not irrevocably destroy it on magnetic media.
- C. Secure overwriting can be effective but might not be as thorough or as quick for tapes as degaussing, and some sophisticated recovery techniques might still retrieve fragments.
Degaussing
The process of reducing or eliminating a magnetic field, used to erase data from magnetic storage media by scrambling the magnetic domains, making the data unrecoverable.
- Effective for magnetic media (HDDs, tapes).
- Renders data irrevocably unrecoverable.
- Makes the media unusable afterwards.
Memory trick: For magnetic data, a strong magnet makes it all vanish.