What is sanitization? And what are the different technique of data sanitization in information security?
Data sanitization is the process of irreversibly removing or destroying data stored on a memory device (e.g., hard drives, flash memory/solid state drives, mobile devices, CDs, and DVDs) or in hard copy form. Media sanitization applies to all digital and non-digital system media subject to disposal or reuse, whether or not the media is considered removable. The goal of sanitization is to ensure that the data previously on the media is not readable or recoverable And it should happen according to formal processes that review, approve, document, and verify the sanitization.
Some sanitization techniques include the following:
- Encryption
- Clearing
- Zeroing
- Degaussing
- Overwriting
- Destruction
- Shredding
- Burning
- Pulverizing