Information Security Best Practices: Degauss Before you Destroy

• Physical destruction of hard drives alone leaves data behind (ie. shredding, crushing, piercing, bending)
• HD-2XTSS Degausser eliminates all data on the disc platters
• After degaussing, physical destruction from the PD-5 gives visual confirmation that the hard drive has been securely processed and is ready to leave the controlled environment for disposal or shredding

Note:  Solid-state media cannot be degaussed.  Physical destruction of the media with the SSD-1 solid-state destroyer is recommended before the media leaving its secure environment.

Degauss vs. Overwrite

Overwriting is a method where a random pattern of usually "1" and "0" is written to every part of the drive, frequently three times, to obliterate the underlying data.  The advantage of this method is the drive can be re-used.  The disadvantages are:  it takes a skilled operator to ensure the overwriting is done correctly; non-functioning sectors of the hard drive cannot be overwritten allowing data to remain on the drive; it takes a considerable amount of time-hours, and therefore electricity; and it is not regarded as failsafe, or permissible for the highest data security standards such as the NSA, CIA, or DoD. 

Degaussing is the process of exposing the media to a strong magnetic field of sufficient strength to magnetically destroy the data.  The advantages of degaussing are:  a skilled operator is not required to operate a degausser; the magnetic field destroys all data on the drive in approximately 1/10 of a second regardless of whether the drive is functioning or non-functioning. Degaussing is recognized by the NSA and DoD as an appropriate method of secure data destruction.  The disadvantage of degaussing is the hard drive cannot be re-used.

After degaussing, the data on a degaussed hard drive simply no longer exists.

Secure and Compliant

The SPACESAVER IRONCLAD will help you meet government and industry data security standards requiring the destruction of sensitive data before disposal, including:

• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)
• DoD (Emergency Destruction and up to Secret Classification)
• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
• GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)
• HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act)
• IRS 1075
• NIST SP 800-88r1
• PCI DSS 3.2 (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
• PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)

Domestic and International Safety Standards

Garner Products, Inc., leads the data destruction industry in product safety by being the first and only U.S. hard drive degausser and destroyer manufacturer to earn certification of our products to UL, IEC, and CSA safety standards from a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). 

Our products are also independently tested for conformity to CE standards for safety and emissions for the European Union.

These U.S. and international certifications identify Garner’s products as safe to operate in data centers, hospitals, offices, and other sensitive environments around the world.

Garner’s products are certified to:

• UL
• IEC
• CSA
• CE 
• ETL Listed