Degaussing – An ideal way for media destruction and data security
Gauss's law for magnetism talks about net flux for an open and closed system. Degaussing process is named after this pioneer of magnetism. It is an act of minimizing the magnetic field of media.
All magnetic media like Hard Disk, Magnetic tapes, different types of floppies can be degaussed. Degaussing weakens the magnetic field of media in such a way that proper data orientation inside the disk is disturbed and data retrieval is practically impossible.
This is done by using other magnetic device called degausser.
This is the best way for media destruction.
An IS auditor / Information Security Personnel should ensure that all critical magnetic media must be degaussed before handing over to third party.
Other type of media destruction
Media may also be destroyed by following methods:
1. Physical destruction
Physical destruction may involve
i. Breaking
ii. Abrading
iii. Drilling etc.
All CD ROMs, DVDs, Optical Discs, USB Disks can be destroyed by this method.
2. By using UV rays
Strong UV rays may destroy data of many types of Electronically Programmable Read-Only Memory (E-PROM).
3. Destruction by burning
Before degaussing technique came this method was used for media destruction. As this method is not environment friendly so, mostly not recommended.
Summary:
| Destruction Method/technique | Mainly used for |
| Degaussing | Most of the magnetic disks/tapes |
| Physical Destruction | CD,DVD,USB disks |
| UV Rays | Flash EPROM drives |
| Fire | Not environment friendly |
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