Secure Data Removal from Magnetic Storage Media | Best Methods for Data Erasure

Reliable and Secure Data Removal from Magnetic Storage Media

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Which of the following is the most reliable, secure means of removing data from magnetic storage media such as a magnetic tape, or a cassette?

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A.

A "Degausser (Otherwise known as a Bulk Eraser) has the main function of reducing to near zero the magnetic flux stored in the magnetized medium.Flux density is measured in Gauss or Tesla.The operation is speedier than overwriting and done in one short operation.This is achieved by subjecting the subject in bulk to a series of fields of alternating polarity and gradually decreasing strength.

The following answers are incorrect:Parity Bit Manipulation.Parity has to do with disk lerror detection, not data removal.A bit or series of bits appended to a character or block of characters to ensure that the information received is the same as the infromation that was sent.

Zeroization.Zeroization involves overwrting data to sanitize it.It is time-consuming and not foolproof.The potential of restoration of data does exist with this method.

Buffer overflow.This is a detractor.

Although many Operating Systems use a disk buffer to temporarily hold data read from disk, its primary purpose has no connection to data removal.An overflow goes outside the constraints defined for the buffer and is a method used by an attacker to attempt access to a system.

The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question: Shon Harris AIO v3

pg 908 - Reference: What is degaussing.

The most reliable and secure means of removing data from magnetic storage media such as magnetic tapes or cassettes is degaussing.

Degaussing is a process that involves applying a strong magnetic field to the storage media, which will erase all the data stored on it. When a magnetic field is applied to magnetic storage media, it causes the magnetic particles to become disordered and random, effectively rendering the data unrecoverable. Degaussing can be performed using a degaussing machine, which generates a strong magnetic field that is powerful enough to erase the data on the storage media.

Parity Bit Manipulation is not a method of removing data from magnetic storage media. It is a method of error detection that involves adding an extra bit to each byte of data to detect errors.

Zeroization is a process of erasing data by setting all the bits in the storage media to zero. However, this method is not reliable or secure because it is possible to recover data from the storage media using special software tools.

Buffer overflow is not a method of removing data from magnetic storage media. It is a type of software vulnerability that can allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code by overwriting a buffer in memory.

In conclusion, degaussing is the most reliable and secure means of removing data from magnetic storage media such as magnetic tapes or cassettes.