To Degauss or not to Degauss?
To Degauss or not to Degauss?
Degaussing or demagnetizing is a method of data storage sanitization. It can be used in combination or be complementary to other methods, like erasure with software, or shredding. Degaussing has some interesting advantages, for instance it is a quick process, and can be executed onsite by internal operators. But it has also some limits: the most important one is that only magnetic data carriers can be degaussed. That means you can degauss an HDD, but not an SSD. Some of types of degaussed data carriers can be reused, like tape, while others cannot, like HDD’s.
Most degaussers are mobile and portable, so you can have your own operators degaussing on site immediately after the data carrier is decommissioned, which is an important security argument. Precautions should be observed, for example, the magnetic field around the degausser, and of the process: there is no visual verification possible to check if a data carrier has effectively been degaussed.
Download the full document about degaussing for free below. In this document you will find a list of data storage devices which can or cannot be degaussed, how degaussing works, what is relevant to qualify degaussers, risks related to degaussing, and the financial model.
