Data Erasure Software and Management Solutions

Data erasure is the removal of data from a storage device such that it cannot be recovered. Data erasure software writes a repeating pattern of 1’s and 0’s over all of the data locations on a hard drive or SSD so that the original data is no longer accessible. The software also removes all data from temporary locations.

Best practices involve using data erasure software to securely overwrite data on hard drives and SSDs, including the hidden areas and remapped sectors. Erasure is done per government standards such as NIST, DOD, and many more.

Erasure software is used before the drives are transported to equipment for physical destruction to eliminate the possibility of data being intercepted during transport. Physical destruction on hard disk drives can be done with a degausser that uses a powerful magnetic field, which erases not only the data but removes the servo tracks, making the media unusable. The most permanent and final destruction solution involves the use of granulators, also known as shredders. These machines rip, tear, or smash a hard drive or SSD into pieces so small that data cannot be recovered from the media or memory chips.

Data erasure is the removal of data from a storage device such that it cannot be recovered. Data erasure software repeatedly writes a pattern of 1’s and 0’s over all of the data locations on a hard drive or SSD so that the original data is no longer accessible. The software also removes all data from temporary locations. File erasure software allows the user to target all instances of specific files to be erased, instead of wiping all data from the entire storage media.

Data erasure can occur in minutes when an encryption key is digitally shredded. Otherwise, erasure can take minutes to hours, depending on the capacity and performance level of the storage media.

Data erasure should be used when the data on a storage device is no longer needed for business purposes, retention policy or other compliance, and legal matters, and would create risk for the organization if it were to be accessed by unintended users.

Erasure coding (EC) is a method of data protection in which data is broken into fragments, or sectors, expanded and encoded with redundant data pieces and stored across a set of different locations or storage media. The goal of erasure coding is to enable data that becomes corrupted at some point in the disk storage process to be reconstructed by using information about the data that’s stored elsewhere in the array. Erasure codes are often used instead of traditional RAID because of their ability to reduce the time and overhead required to reconstruct data. Erasure coding can be more CPU-intensive than traditional RAID systems, resulting in increased latency.

The main objective of secure data destruction is to make it impossible to recover data from a data storage device that is no longer in use by an individual or organization. Destroying this data reduces the risks of identity theft, financial theft, reputational harm, or corporate espionage.

There are several methods that result in secure data deletion. The use of erasing software is recommended when the storage media is to be reused. For example, when re-selling IT equipment that already contains information. If the software is certified and approved, it can be used on spinning Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Solid State Drives (SSD), mobile phones and memory cards. The software then also deletes the hidden areas and remapped sectors. Deletion is done according to government standards such as NIST, DOD and many more. Physical destruction of hard drives is another option. You can either expose hard drives (HDD) and tapes to a strong magnetic field with a degausser or simply grind the entire device down to small fragments with a hard drive chewer (a so-called shredder).

Data on storage devices no longer in use by an individual or for business purposes by an organization has the chance of being accessed by threat actors who may use the data for identity theft, compromising privacy, financial theft, reputational harm, or corporate espionage. Once the data is destroyed, it is no longer available to those who would choose to use the data in this manner.

Physical data destruction such as degaussing or shredding will make a hard disk drive or SSD inoperable so that none of the data, software, or other programs on the device will function. Erasure software can be used in such a manner that it erases only specific files, leaving Windows or other operating systems intact when an organization desires to repurpose the asset after wiping the data. The comprehensive approach to drive eraser software will remove all data and programs, including the operating system.

Granulators, also known as shredders, are machines that rip, tear or smash a hard drive or SSD into small pieces, making it inoperable and not possible to recover any data. Data that is no longer need by the organization for the business, legal, or retention requirements can be safely and permanently destroyed using a granulator. Organizations can reduce the risk of security breaches and reduce storage costs by disposing of data no longer needed.

Best practices can involve using data erasure software to securely overwrite data on HDDs and SSDs, including the hidden areas and remapped sectors. Deletion is done according to government standards such as NIST, DOD and many more.

Physical destruction of hard drives can be done with a degausser that uses a powerful magnetic field, which erases not only the data but removes the servo tracks, rendering the media unusable. The most obvious destruction solution is to shred hard drives and other media into tiny, tiny pieces. This is called shredding or fragmentation. These machines smash a hard drive or SSD into pieces so small that the data cannot be recovered from the media or memory chips.

If the grinding takes place with correct equipment intended for safe data destruction, it is impossible to reproduce any data. However, if a shredder doesn't create small enough pieces, from a memory chip, for example, an SSD or a mobile phone chip can pass through without being destroyed. If this happens, the content could be recovered by data recovery experts such as Ontrack.

When degaussing a traditional hard drive, the magnetically coated platters that store data are completely erased. Degaussing involves subjecting a hard drive to a magnetic field, which essentially demagnetizes the platters. The drive is rendered completely inoperable because there are no longer tracks and sectors on the platter which are used to organize and locate data.

Degaussing provides permanent removal of data and is recommended as a step in the data sanitization of traditional hard drives, tape, and other magnetic media. After degaussing, devices can be physically destroyed using a special shredder—the process guards against the possibility of any potential for possible data recovery.

We’ve seen videos of do-it-yourself data destruction with nail guns, hammers, and automobiles. And while these methods physically destroy devices, they don’t provide a verifiable, certified method to ensure data is inaccessible and unrecoverable. Destroying a hard drive with a hammer might render it inoperable, but because Ontrack engineers are known for their miraculous data recovery rescues (including a hard drive from the crashed Space Shuttle), anything is possible.