REMOVING DATA FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE
Problem
Making certain that you remove confidential data from your hard drive prior to disposing of it
The drive could end up in unscrupulous hands.
Deletion/Formatting
Inadequate; data can be recovered easily with appropriate software
Removes tag but data still resides in unallocated space
Formatting reconfigures the FAT (File Allocation Table) but does NOT remove
or overwrite the data
Unsafe until overwritten
Extra measures must be taken
Positive Means
Overwriting with pattern of meaningless information i.e. "...Overwriting data once
is not usually good enough to prevent data recovery, instead it is recommended that
a minimum of three passes are made writing alternating zero and one patterns over
the data and then further passes with random data, the more passes the better the
chance that no data can ever be recovered."
Include treating sensitive data on flash drives, floppies, cartridges, tapes. DVDs/CDs