A small business is retiring 20 old desktop PCs that contain sensitive customer data. The IT manager wants to ensure the data is unrecoverable before donating the computers to a local school. Which method should be used?
Trap 1: Perform a standard format of each hard drive.
A standard format only removes the file system pointers; data remains on the drive and can be recovered with software.
Trap 2: Delete all files and empty the Recycle Bin.
Deleting files and emptying the Recycle Bin only marks the space as available; data remains until overwritten and is easily recoverable.
Trap 3: Run a quick disk cleanup utility.
Disk cleanup removes temporary files but does not securely erase sensitive data; it is not a destruction method.
- A
Perform a standard format of each hard drive.
Why wrong: A standard format only removes the file system pointers; data remains on the drive and can be recovered with software.
- B
Use a degausser on each hard drive.
Degaussing uses a powerful magnetic field to scramble the magnetic domains on the platters, rendering data permanently unrecoverable.
- C
Delete all files and empty the Recycle Bin.
Why wrong: Deleting files and emptying the Recycle Bin only marks the space as available; data remains until overwritten and is easily recoverable.
- D
Run a quick disk cleanup utility.
Why wrong: Disk cleanup removes temporary files but does not securely erase sensitive data; it is not a destruction method.