Sanitization in the handling of confidential information in a responsible and safe way.
In Digital Media sanitization is the logical and / or physical process by which the information of a magnetic medium is eliminated, this includes the secure deletion of the files, the physical destruction of the medium, this with the objective that information cannot be obtained medium.
Logical sanitization is done through Secure Erase, which includes a set of techniques that aim to make it impossible to recover the information stored in the magnetic medium by digital means. These erase methods usually include the overwriting of zeros and / or bit-level ones in repetitive processes.
There are several methods for deleting data and then we list the most used by companies around the world.
Gutmann Method: It is an algorithm to safely remove the contents of a hard disk or other magnetic storage medium, designed by Peter Gutmann and Colin Plumb. Its operation consists of writing a series of 35 different patterns on the original data so that it is extremely difficult to know the original content.
Pfitzner: The Pfitzner method is a software-based data disinfection method created by Roy Pfitzner to erase data from a hard drive or other storage device. The Pfitzner method will prevent all file recovery methods based on some software from finding information on the drive and will also prevent most hardware-based recovery methods from extracting information.
Schneier: The Schneier method is a software-based data disinfection method that is used in some file destruction and data destruction programs to overwrite existing information on a hard drive or other storage devices.
DOD 5220.22-M: This method was introduced by the US Department of Defense. based on the NISPOM (National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual) and consists of the overwriting of the support with a fixed value determined once, then its complementary value is written once, and finally it is reviewed with random values ​​once again. This is a high security method that consists of 35 passes, complemented with Mersenne iterations, to streamline secure erase processes by generating pseudorandom numbers.
NAVSO P-5239-26: US Navy Standard is used for RLL (Run Length Limited) encoded discs. This method applies the writing of a fixed value on the recorded medium, a fixed value, and ends with random values. The data area is read to verify overwriting. The method is applicable to hard drives and optical media such as CD, DVD or BlueRay.
Physical sanitation occurs with the destruction of the physical device, usually used when the material is unrecoverable. For each physical device there are different techniques, tools and machinery that are designed for destruction.
Around the world there are companies that need to have a broad standard of computer security, which is why they resort to the destruction of their IT assets and magnetic media by hiring companies such as GREENTEK SOLUTIONS LLC for the destruction of all those assets that the company no longer needs with the assurance that e-waste is recycled responsibly.
