CISSP Asset Security Practice Question
An organization is reviewing its media sanitization procedures. Which TWO methods are considered acceptable for sanitizing solid-state drives (SSDs) according to NIST SP 800-88 guidelines?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cryptographic erase
For SSDs, cryptographic erase and physical destruction are recommended. Overwriting is unreliable due to wear-leveling, and degaussing does not work on SSDs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Degaussing
Why it's wrong here
Degaussing relies on a strong magnetic field to disrupt the magnetic domains on hard disk drives (HDDs) and magnetic tapes. Because solid-state drives (SSDs) store data electronically in NAND flash memory cells rather than magnetically, degaussing has absolutely no effect on them. Consequently, this method fails to sanitize modern flash-based storage media.
- ✓
Cryptographic erase
Why this is correct
Cryptographic erasure (CE) sanitizes media by permanently deleting or overwriting the decryption keys associated with self-encrypting drives (SEDs). Without the key, the ciphertext remaining on the storage chips becomes mathematically infeasible to decrypt. This process is highly efficient and completed in seconds, making it ideal for both solid-state and magnetic media.
- ✓
Physical destruction (shredding or pulverizing)
Why this is correct
Physical destruction, such as shredding or disintegrating, physically breaks the storage media into tiny fragments to prevent data recovery. For solid-state drives, the shred size must be extremely small (typically 2mm or less) to ensure the individual NAND flash memory chips are completely destroyed. This method provides the highest level of assurance for highly sensitive data decommissioning.
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Overwriting with a random pattern
Why it's wrong here
Overwriting writes random data patterns across the logical block addresses of a storage device. However, this technique is unreliable for solid-state drives because wear-leveling algorithms and over-provisioned space prevent direct access to all physical NAND cells. Consequently, residual data can remain intact in unmapped sectors, bypassing the overwrite attempt.
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Data wiping software
Why it's wrong here
Data wiping software typically utilizes standard logical block overwriting passes to sanitize storage media. Similar to basic overwriting, these software tools cannot reliably target hidden sectors, bad blocks, or wear-leveled areas managed by the SSD's internal controller. This leaves sensitive data vulnerable to recovery through specialized hardware-level forensic techniques.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISSP exam.