What is data erasure and how to do it

Data erasure

What is data erasure?

Data erasure is a software-based method of overwriting the data that aims to completely destroy all electronic data residing on a hard disk drive or other digital media by using zeros and ones to overwrite data onto all sectors of the device. By overwriting the data on the storage device, the data is rendered unrecoverable and achieves data sanitization.

Permanent data erasure goes beyond basic file deletion commands, which only remove direct pointers to the data disk sectors and make the data recovery possible with common software tools. Unlike degaussing and physical destruction, which render the storage media unusable, data erasure removes all information while leaving the disk operable. New flash memory-based media implementations, such as solid-state drives or USB flash drives can cause data erasure techniques to fail allowing remnant data to be recoverable

Why should data be erased?

Companies, no matter whether they are part of a large corporation or a smaller business, would definitely need to use a professional data erasure method if they want to ensure that their data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Due to legal and internal regulations, data should be erased at the end of its so-called lifecycle. There are a number of existing national rules, regulations and laws that already require companies to comply with data protection measures, and also with data erasure.

No matter what method of data erasure is used, it should always be part of a consistent process and take into account some basic points. A rule for the secure disposal of old devices should be put in place and – this is the actual core issue – also be respected. It should also be clearly specified who is responsible for the actual data erasure and who for checking it. Because from the perspective of compliance, these tasks should be the responsibility of different people. And finally, companies should never forget that data erasure is not a bothersome imposition but something crucial for the welfare of the company.

Methods of Data Erasure

Degaussing

There are some reliable and inexpensive ways to have data erased securely, and above all, irrevocably. If the data storage device is no longer to be used after erasure, there are two possible methods: either demagnetization using a Degausser or mechanical destruction in a so-called shredder. Both solutions work well in case of defective equipment and when the hardware necessary to access the data no longer exists. However, those responsible have to understand clearly that afterwards the media become absolutely unusable.

Degaussing does, unfortunately, have a couple of disadvantages. For a start, it’s effective on magnetic media and magnetic media only. A degausser might be powerful enough to wipe a 100-terabyte hard drive but put a flash storage device in there and it’ll come out unharmed.

Secondly, degaussed hard drives can’t be reused, so it’s not an ideal solution for companies looking to recycle or sell their hardware.

Take a look at our degausser products

Software

One of the simplest ways to permanently erase data is to use software. Hard drives, flash storage devices and virtual environments can all be wiped without specialist hardware, and the software required ranges from free – such as the ‘shred’ command bundled with most Unix-like operating systems – to commercial products.

While different data destruction applications use different techniques, they all adhere to a single principle: overwrite the information stored on the medium with something else. So, a program might go over a hard drive sector by sector and swap every bit for a zero, or else with randomly generated data. In order to ensure that no trace of the original magnetic pattern remains, this is typically done multiple times – common algorithms include Scheier seven-pass, as well as the even more rigorous, 35-pass Gutmann method.

Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks to software-based data erasure. For one, it’s fairly time-consuming. Then, perhaps more significantly, there’s the fact that if certain sectors of the hard drive become inaccessible via normal means, the application won’t be able to write to them. Nonetheless, it’ll be possible for someone with the right tools to recover data from a bad sector.

Obviously, software-based data erasure also hits a snag when you want to destroy information stored on media that can only be written to once, such as most optical discs.

WipeDrive is the world leader in secure data destruction. It allows corporations and government entities to permanently and securely erase data from hard drives, removable media and mobile devices, providing a secure, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible way of recycling and retiring computer storage.

Physical Destruction

Finally, physically destroying the media is an option, but it is not always as fail-safe a method as it seems. A hard drive can sustain significant damage before the data contained therein is rendered irretrievable. In fact, even if the spinning platters inside are shattered, it’s theoretically possible that someone might put the parts together and recover the contents.

As such, simply snapping a hard drive in half isn’t a suitable technique for permanently erasing end-of-life data. If a company goes down the physical destruction route, it should ensure that the media is shattered into as many pieces as possible – most professionals would recommend using a specialist hard drive shredder.

For devices that use flash memory, the process is a little different. If the memory chip itself is destroyed, the data can’t be recovered. But if it survives, it can be transplanted into another circuit board with a fresh controller chip and the information can be accessed without much trouble.

In summary: it’s easy to assume that physically destroying media is a guaranteed way of securely erasing the data, but that’s not always the case. Doing the job properly is often as time-consuming as any other method and requires no less rigor.

You can use a crusher or a shredder for this particular method of data destruction.

What to Do After A Data Leak: 5 Critical Steps

No matter how many security procedures you follow, a data leak can still happen. Make sure you’re prepared in the event of an emergency with our five key steps.

There were almost 1600 data breaches in the United States during 2017. Despite increased security measures, many businesses and organizations faced a situation where a data breach occurred.

How you handle any data leak is important. Being prepared and taking immediate action can limit the damage caused by the incident as well as lower the cost of a data breach.

Here’s what you need to know about handling a security incident.

Key Steps in Handling a Data Leak

There are 5 steps you can take in response to a data breach to lower the damage.

1. Assemble the Team

You’ll need to bring together a variety of experts to deal with the situation. This includes IT people, management, and legal counsel.

It’s important to identify how the leak happened, what information was exposed, and what measures need to be taken in response to the incident.

Dealing with the consequences of the data leak may require the use of outside forensic experts and legal counsel.

2. Secure Your IT Systems

Once you realize a breach has occurred, it’s important to secure all IT systems to make sure more data aren’t lost. This could mean pulling computers off the network until you can be sure they are not compromised and leaking more data.

Another key step is having all individuals authorized to access IT systems change their login credentials in case the hackers obtained access to this information during the breach.

Once the cause of the leak is known, you’ll want to be sure any machines connected to the network have security protections against a similar attack.

3. Create a Communications Plan

Nobody wants to tell the world they lost data but it’s important to notify all affected individuals about the incident. This includes your employees and any customers impacted.

If the data leaked are sensitive and could affect the privacy and security of individuals, it may be necessary to use a public relations campaign to help you reach the individuals whose data were lost.

If it was a large-scale breach, you’ll likely need a communications team in place to handle questions from impacted individuals as well as give relevant information to those affected.

4. Notify Law Enforcement and Government Agencies

Letting law enforcement know about the breach can help lower the risk of identity theft if personal information was part of the breach.

Depending on the type of data lost and relevant federal and state laws, you might need to notify specific government agencies about the data leak.

To find out who you need to notify, you’ll need to research state and federal laws. An easier approach is to hire legal experts who specialize in handling data breach incidents.

5. Fix the Problem

Data breaches happen when hackers exploit weaknesses in your IT systems. Whether it’s computer vulnerabilities or poorly trained employees, you’ll need to make sure the issue doesn’t happen again.

Often it will take some time and a security audit to find weaknesses in your IT systems or procedures.

Working with a cybersecurity expert can help you identify and address issues.

Moving Forward

Using strong cybersecurity protections can help avoid the loss of data to hackers. Destroying unneeded data can help prevent data leaks by reducing the amount of data retained.

If you haven’t set up a secure data destruction process, we can assist you in developing one.

Data erasure

Data erasure (also called data clearing or data wiping) is a software-based method of overwriting data that completely destroys all electronic data residing on a hard disk drive or other digital media. Permanent data erasure goes beyond basic file deletion commands, which only remove direct pointers to data disk sectors and make data recovery possible with common software tools. Unlike degaussing and physical destruction, which render the storage media unusable, data erasure removes all information while leaving the disk operable, preserving IT assets and the environment.

Software-based overwriting uses a software application to write patterns of pseudo-random meaningless data onto all of a hard drive’s sectors. There are key differentiators between data erasure and other overwriting methods, which can leave data intact and raise the risk of data breach or spill, identity theft and failure to achieve regulatory compliance. Many data eradication programs also provide multiple overwrites so that they support recognized government and industry standards. Good software should provide verification of data removal, which is necessary for meeting certain standards.

To protect data on lost or stolen media, some data erasure applications remotely destroy data if the password is incorrectly entered. Data erasure tools can also target specific data on a disk for routine erasure, providing a hacking protection method that is less time-consuming than software encryption. Hardware encryption built into drive firmware and integrated controllers is now a popular solution with no degradation in performance at all.

The firmware can encrypt at 256-bit full AES encryption faster than the drive electronics can write the data. Drives with this capability are known as self-encrypting drives (SED) and are present on most modern laptops and are increasingly used in Enterprise to protect data. Changing the encryption key will make all the drive data inaccessible so is an easy and very fast method of achieving 100% data erasure. Theft of an SED will induce physical asset loss, but data on the drive is inaccessible without the decryption key which is not stored on the drive.

DT Asia provides focused security solutions and services that secure your data at rest, data in motion and data in use. We provide best degaussing service in Singapore, Hard Disk Crusher, NSA degausser Singapore, DoD degausser Singapore, hard disk destruction singapore,erase hard disk singapore, secured hard drive destruction singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Degaussing magnetic data storage media

Degaussing magnetic data is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field.

Data is stored in the magnetic media, such as hard drives, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, by making very small areas called magnetic domains change their magnetic alignment to be in the direction of an applied magnetic field. This phenomenon occurs in much the same way a compass needle points in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. Degaussing, commonly called erasure, leaves the domains in random patterns with no preference to orientation, thereby rendering previous data unrecoverable. There are some domains whose magnetic alignment is not randomized after degaussing. The information these domains represent is commonly called magnetic remanence or remanent magnetization. Proper degaussing will ensure there is insufficient magnetic remanence to reconstruct the data.

Erasure via Degaussing magnetic data may be accomplished in two ways: in AC erasure, the medium is degaussed by applying an alternating field that is reduced in amplitude over time from an initial high value (i.e., AC powered); in DC erasure, the medium is saturated by applying a unidirectional field (i.e., DC powered or by employing a permanent magnet). A degausser is a device that can generate a magnetic field for degaussing magnetic storage media

Irreversible damage to some media types

Many forms of generic magnetic storage media can be reused after degaussing, including audio reel-to-reel tape, VHS videocassettes, and floppy disks. These older media types are simply a raw medium which are overwritten with fresh new patterns, created by fixed-alignment read/write heads.
For certain forms of computer data storage, however, such as modern hard drives and some tape backup drives, degaussing renders the magnetic media completely unusable and damages the storage system. This is due to the devices having an infinitely variable read/write head positioning mechanism which relies on special servo control data (e.g. Gray Code) that is meant to be permanently embedded into the magnetic media. This servo data is written onto the media a single time at the factory using special-purpose servo writing hardware.

The servo patterns are normally never overwritten by the device for any reason and are used to precisely position the read/write heads over data tracks on the media, to compensate for sudden jarring device movements, thermal expansion, or changes in orientation. Degaussing magnetic data indiscriminately removes not only the stored data but also the servo control data, and without the servo data the device is no longer able to determine where data is to be read or written on the magnetic medium. The medium must be low-level formatted to become usable again; with modern hard drives, this is generally not possible without manufacturer-specific and often model-specific service equipment.

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Hard Disk Erasure service in Singapore

Hard Disk Erasure

Hard Disk Erasure is the method of securely remove data from hard disk while keeping the hard drive functioning or reusable. If you need to erase the data on a SCSI, IDE/PATA, SATA, laptop or SAS hard drive and then reuse or recycle hard drive, Data Devices’ line of DOD-approved hard drive erasers overwrite and erase the data on the drive, ensuring complete data security. The DOD-approved application WipeOutoverwrites and erases the drive 8 times. This guarantees the original data on the drive is unrecoverable to Department of Defense specifications. These units come standard with WipeOut Fast, which provides fast and comprehensive erasure. Our line of hard drive erasers and duplicators also supports solid state flash memory.

DT Asia provides an ISO 9001 Certified for high quality Secure Electronic Data Erasure Services on any storage media such as PATA, SATA, or SCSI. There are many options of hard disk erasure. One of it is Software Erase, by overwriting the sector of the disk with a new value with certain amount of passes to ensure that the data is harder to recover. But we also provides a better option than software erase, “Secure Erase” which initiate the drive internal secure erase command, security erase unit, based on the ATA specification by the T13 technical committee.

If you have any request on data removing / restoring and degaussing, especially Hard Disk Erasure, please contact DT Asia for a help.

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What is Degaussing?

Degaussing is a separate process from the computer system. It is a process that utilizes a machine to produce a strong electromagnetic field that destroys magnetically recorded data on a magnetic media. (E.g. hard disk and tape media…)

Who and Why degaussing is needed for your media?

• Radio/Television broadcasters: enables expensive tapes to be re-used.
• Computer departments of corporations: allows re-use of back up tapes and safe disposal of information from PC hard drives.
• Data Storage Companies: data no longer needed can be easily and efficiently erased.
• Defense Organisations: confidential and top secret information can be erased.
• CCTV Operators: allows VHS tapes to be re-used again and again.
• Audio/Video duplicators: allows re-use of any production over runs and returned out of date tapes.
• Financial Services: Banks and insurance companies can use a degausser to re-use magnetic media for voice logging systems.
• Emergency Services: Re-use tapes used in voice logging systems.
• Hospitals: erase sensitive information held on magnetic media, such as patient records no longer required.
• Universities: allows student records that are no longer needed to be erased.

Degaussing Services in Asia

Degaussing Services

Degaussing services are becoming vital services for ending of data life in storage media. Information leakage is a major threat to all organisations. IT departments often spent millions of dollars on access security, anti-virus and intrusion-protection. This security fortress becomes inadequate when dealing with information leakage via data storage sanitization. DT Asia has the capability, competency and track record to provide organisations with effective data leakage protection solutions.

DT Asia’s secure data sanitization processes are ISO 9001:2008 certified, the first in its class in Singapore, signifying our commitment and priority to organisations’ security needs.

DT Asia’s secure data sanitization service covers all forms of electronic data storage media, which includes hard drive, magnetic tape, audio/video tape, optical media, flash media, static storage media, floppy and Zip cartridge, etc.

Besides data sanitization or degausing services, DT Asia also provides complete IT asset disposal solutions. Our capabilities include the management of the complete disposal process of asset verification, secure data sanitization and asset de-classification, proper destruction and disposal.

DT Asia provides a high quality degaussing service based on ISO 9001:2008 Certified – Secure Electronic Data Erasure & Destruction Services. We provide a quality checking process to demagnetizes the disk so that all data stored on the disk is permanently destroyed. Thus making the disk impossible to be recovered by any recovery tools available.

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Secure Data Destruction

Data Terminator offer various Secure Data Destruction Services

Hard Disk & Tape Sanitization

One of the key solutions to eliminate the risk of data falling into the wrong hands is to degauss hard drives prior to disposal. Hard drive degaussers use powerful magnets or an electromechanical “pulse” to erase data from hard drives. Similarly, tapes should also be properly degaussed before disposal.

In fact, DoD Requirements call for hard drives to be degaussed in an NSA listed Degausser and then physically destroyed prior to disposal.

CD/DVD Optical Media Destruction

Destroying CD/DVD Optical Media doesn’t have to be a problem.

Data Terminator has a variety of machines to meet NSA/CSS Specifications for CD/DVD Optical Media Destruction.

IT Asset Disposal

Proper IT asset disposal is becoming more and more important not just on the environmental issues but also on data confidentiality.

Many organizations do not have the dedicated resources or the bulk quantity to justify the investment of procuring the equipment. They may choose to outsource such destruction and disposal. Outsourcing can be affordable and safe when done properly. If you choose this option, ask what methods will be used, where your items will be kept prior to destruction, or if there are any on-site services, what happens to destroyed waste, and what proof you will get that those items were actually destroyed.

Data security is an ongoing process, by being aware of the threats and understanding the destruction options, you will be in a much better position to protect your business and yourself. You will have complete peace of mind that you have left nothing behind.

Data Terminator provides complete IT asset disposal solutions. Our capabilities include the management of the complete disposal process of asset verification, secure data sanitization and asset de-classification, proper destruction and disposal.

You can further inquire following service from Data Terminator: NSA degausser Singapore,US DoD degausser Singapore, Degaussing service in Singapore, Degausser in Singapore, IT security, IT asset disposal, line of sight, on-site, secure data destruction.

Information leakage prevention service

Information leakage is a major threat to all organisations. IT departments often spent millions of dollars on access security, anti-virus and intrusion-protection. This security fortress becomes inadequate when dealing with information leakage via data storage sanitization. Data Terminator has the capability, competency and track record to provide organisations with effective data leakage protection solutions. Information leakage prevention is critical for your business.

Data Terminator’s secure data sanitization processes are ISO 9001:2008 certified, the first in its class in Singapore, signifying our commitment and priority to organisations’ security needs.

Data Terminator’s secure data sanitization service covers all forms of electronic data storage media, which includes hard drive, magnetic tape, audio/video tape, optical media, flash media, static storage media, floppy and Zip cartridge, etc.

Besides data sanitization, Data Terminator also provides complete IT asset disposal solutions. Our capabilities include the management of the complete disposal process of asset verification, secure data sanitization and asset de-classification, proper destruction and disposal.

When a file is erased or deleted from your computer, the actual data in the file is not gone forever. The space utilized by that file is simply marked as “free” for use by other data. The case also applies to hard disks which are spoilt or with bad sectors. The fact is your data is still lurking in those hard disks that have no operational use.

Many people would think that once other data is written in that space, the original data becomes gone forever. However, with data recovery tools readily available, it is now possible to recover data even after it has been written over a few times.

Data Terminator provides secure and comprehensive data sanitization equipment and services with full compliance and quality to give our customers complete peace of mind. The secure data sanitization equipment used are all NSA-certified and our data sanitization process is ISO-certified.

Degaussing FAQs

Q: What is Physical Drive Destruction?

To positively prevent data from recovery; disks can be removed from disk drives and broken up, or even ground to microscopic pieces. DoD 5220.22M recommends degaussing followed by physical destruction of the storage medium (the magnetic disks) for data classified higher than Secret. Even such physical destruction is not absolute if any remaining disk pieces are larger than a single 512-byte record block in size, about 1/125″ in today’s drives. As linear and track densities increases, the maximum allowable size of disk fragments become ever smaller. Destroyed disk fragments of this size can be image restored by magnetic microscopy.

Some storage products are more easily destroyed than hard disk drives, such as magnetic disk data cartridges, tape cartridges, secure USB drives, and optical media.

Q: What is Non-destructive Data Erasure (Data Sanitization)?

Non-destructive data erasure supports wiping and permanently cleaning for all traces of deleted files and folder, administrator documents and other similar files or folders for maintaining computer privacy and enhancing system performance. It deletes all the data, free space, slack space, deleted memory chunks of data even if they’re not existing in a file, removes huge files stored on HDD of Windows OS and any removable media and cannot be recovered or restored by any data recovery software.

Q: What is Sanitization of Data?

Data Sanitization is the process of erasing (sanitizing) or destroying sensitive information in storage devices to meet legal compliance requirements thereby protecting user data from unauthorized use.

Q: What is Degaussing (or Demagnetizing)?

Degaussing is the process for reducing the magnetization of a magnetic storage device to zero by applying a reverse (coercive) magnetizing force, rendering any previously stored data unreadable and unintelligible, and ensuring that it cannot be recovered by any technology known to exist.

Q: What is Coercive Force?

A negative or reverse magnetic force applied for the purpose of reducing magnetic flux density.

Q: What is a degausser?

Degausser is an electrical device or permanent magnet assembly which generates a coercive magnetic force for the purpose of degaussing magnetic storage devices or other magnetic material. In order to be effective in sanitizing data, the degausser needs to be evaluated by an authority (e.g. US DoD, NSA/CSS) to meet the *oersted strength as claimed by the manufacturer.

*Oersted: A cgs unit of magnetic field strength, symbol: Oe. Oersted is a measurement applied to magnetic media.

Q: What is Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM)?

The Magnetic Force Microscope is a variation of the Atomic Force Microscope, capable of providing high resolution, 3-dimensional images of magnetic fields. Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) technology can be used to probe magnetic storage media like hard disk and magnetic tapes for data residue.

If the magnetic data storage media such as hard disks and magnetic tapes have been completely degaussed, there will not be any data residue on the hard disk.

Q: What needs to be sanitised?

CDs and DVDs

Hard Drives

All forms of Magnetic Media, e.g. backup cartridges, tapes, zip disks and floppy disks

Optical and Flash Drives, e.g. thumb drives and memory storage cards

Q: How then to ensure that data are erased securely?

Degaussing – Using secure data destruction equipment such as hard drive degaussers to permanently eliminate data from magnetic media. Hard drive degaussers use powerful magnets or an electromechanical “pulse” to erase data from hard drives. In fact, DoD requirements call for hard drives to be degaussed in an NSA listed Degausser and then physically destroyed prior to disposal.

Shredding – Using secure data destruction equipment to completely pulverize and reduce the media to dust.
Disintegration – Using secure data destruction equipment to destroy bulk materials into particles that cannot be reconstructed.

Q: Does physical destruction of hard disk drives make the data unrecoverable?

Hard disk drives can be removed from the computers, smashed, broken up, drilled holes and even shredded to smaller pieces to prevent the data from being recovered. However, even such physical destruction is not absolute if any remaining disk pieces are larger than a single record block in size, about 1/125″ in today’s drives (Note that as the linear and track density of magnetic recording increases the resulting recoverable pieces of disk must become even smaller if all chances of data recovery after physical destruction alone are to be zero).

By physically destroying the outer surface of the hard disks does not ensure that the data are properly sanitized/degaussed. Data can still be recovered by a process known as MFM (Magnetic Force Microscopy) ‏

Q: Why the need to ensure that electronic data in storage media are securely erased and destroyed?

By simply discarding obsolete or damaged storage media, traces of sensitive information that are being left behind can be recovered easily. This compromises the security of the confidential data.

HDD Hard Disk Drive Eraser

WipeDrive

WipeDrive is an erasure that able to wipe all data from your hard drives in accordance with some well-known standards such as (DoD 5220.22-M, HMG IS5 Baseline, HMG IS5 Enhanced, Canada Ops-II, US Army AR380-19, US Air Force 5020, German VSITR, NAVSO P-5239-26, NCSC-TG-025, Russian GOST P50739-95) making it unrecoverable.

By completely erase your hard drive, it protects your identity and other personal information, when buying, selling or throwing your computer away. It may also improve your system performance.

Hammer

• NIST Approved – Hammer erasure tool is compliant with NIST 800-36 and 800-88

• Supports Multiple Devices At One Time – Hammer erasure tool is able to process up to 4 hard disks at once

• All-In-One Device – Hammer erasure tool can not only erase, but also, partition, format and image source data to each of the drives.

The Hammer is a hard disk drive erasure tool. The device will securely erase all data written to the attached drives, up to 4 drives at once.

Both PATA and SATA interfaces are supported. Secure Erase is implemented allowing guaranteed, uninterrupted erasure of all data stored on the media.

If a drive does not support the secure erase command, NIST 800-36 and 800-88 compliant data erase methods are used.

Once each connected device is erased, the user can configure the system to partition, format and image source data to each of the drives.

Once the process has been started, the Hammer will execute each step until complete.

Hammer is a one step tool that will erase all data from a drive and prepare the drive to be redeployed into service.

Features:

• Secure Erase / Pattern Erase
• Auto Partitioning / Auto Formatting
• Auto Image Copy
• NIST 800-88 Compliant / NIST 800-36 Compliant
• SATA and PATA interfaces
• High Speed UDMA transfers
• Verify after complete
• Portable
• Up to Four Drives at one time
• USB 2.0 for storing and printing verification logs

Benefits

• Provides peace of mind that confidential data will not fall into the wrong hands.

• Meets data sanitization standards set by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and The US Department of Defense