Disposal Policies

Question 1

What process of disposal uses powerful magnets on a hard drive in order to wipe it?

Answer 1

Degaussing

Question 2

What act of removing data ensures that the data can not be reconstructed by using any known forensic techniques?

Answer 2

Purging (Sanitizing)

Note: This method involves re-writing the drive over and over again with 1’s and 0’s or encrypting it and destroying the key.

Question 3

What act of disposal removes the data with a certain amount of assurance that it can not be reconstructed?

Answer 3

Clearing

Note: This is not as thorough as purging. This is like formatting a hard disk. The data can actually be forensically reconstructed.

Question 4

What is a major security concern regarding data disposal?

Answer 4

Data Remnants

Note: Leftover pieces of data that haven’t been purged.

Question 5

How do you determine what level of disposal is needed for a storage device?

Answer 5

It depends on if that storage device will be reused/reusable or not.

Question 6

What are the 5 steps in a disposal policy?

Answer 6

1. Define what will be disposed
2. Determine where to store it until disposal
3. Analyze equipment to determine; reuse, resell, or destruction
4. Sanitize the device and remove all data
5. Throw away, recycle, or resell device