Data Destruction

"Negligence is an extreme thing."

—Hagakure

Data destruction is the sanitization of media to prevent information theft.

Routine Data Destruction

In the event you sell a computer or no longer need a disc, you will want to destroy all of its contents to give the owner a clean start and keep your data out of the wrong hands.

Emergency Data Destruction

In the event that you must erase data in a hurry, you will need to have a plan in place to delete data quickly.

Computer Data

Desktop and notebook computers should have a data destruction startup disc taped to their case or stored nearby for emergency use.

DBAN: Darik's Boot And Nuke

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

• Mac: http://dban.sourceforge.net/ppc.html

Server Data

If you are storing data on remote machines such as servers, you need a script in place to erase those. Unfortunately, hosted server data is probably backed up, making it next to impossible to verify thorough data destruction. Don't store on a server what you might need to destroy.

Removeable Data

External hard drives and optical media like DVDRs aren't covered by DBAN booting solutions. DVDs and CDs can be destroyed by fire.