Question

During the decommissioning phase of a hardware project, a security administrator is tasked with ensuring no sensitive data is released inadvertently. All paper records are scheduled to be shredded in a crosscut shredder, and the waste will be burned. The system drives and removable media have been removed prior to e-cycling the hardware.

Which of the following would ensure no data is recovered from the system drives once they are disposed of?

A. Overwriting all HDD blocks with an alternating series of data.
B. Physically disabling the HDDs by removing the drive head.
C. Demagnetizing the hard drive using a degausser.
D. Deleting the UEFI boot loaders from each HDD.

Answer 1

The correct method to ensure no data is recovered from system drives during disposal is to demagnetize the hard drive using a degausser. Overwriting all HDD blocks with an alternating series of data can also be effective, but not as foolproof. Physically disabling the HDDs and deleting UEFI boot loaders are not sufficient methods.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer is C. Demagnetizing the hard drive using a degausser.

Degaussing is the process of erasing the magnetic field on a hard drive, making it impossible to recover data from the drive. This is the most effective method to ensure data cannot be recovered. Overwriting all HDD blocks with an alternating series of data can also be a secure method, but it is time-consuming and not as foolproof as degaussing.

Physically disabling the HDDs by removing the drive head may prevent casual data recovery, but determined attackers may still be able to recover data. Deleting the UEFI boot loaders from each HDD is not sufficient to prevent data recovery as it only removes the boot data and not the actual data on the drive.