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Importance of Data Sanitization

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Importance of Data Sanitization

Written By

Sanjeev Yadav linkdin

Updated on

Dec 26, 2023

What is Data Sanitization?

Data sanitization is an irreversible, deliberate, and secure method of data destruction that permanently destroys data on a storage device, making it irrecoverable. In the context of data sanitization, data erasure is a software-based method that securely overwrites all addressable memory locations with 0s and 1s, effectively replacing the existing data and ensuring it cannot be recovered.

NIST SP 800-88 guidelines for media sanitization define it as a “process that renders access to target data on the media infeasible for a given level of effort.” NIST SP 800-172 takes it ahead and defines sanitization as a “process to remove information from media such that data recovery is not possible.” Furthermore, NIST SP 800-53 R 4 specifies that “the organization shall sanitize information system digital media using approved equipment, techniques, and procedures.”

Why is Data Sanitization Important?

Rising security concerns due to cyberattacks & data breaches prompted the enactment of data privacy laws in many countries, and all these laws feature data sanitization as an integral part of compliance. For example, article 17 of GDPR gives customers the “right to be forgotten,” which compels the organization to remove the customer’s data from their records completely. This data removal or data erasure can be achieved successfully by practicing NIST guidelines for media sanitization.

Data Erasure is also the recommended method to mitigate the risks involved with the disposal of IT assets, protecting sensitive information, and meeting audit and compliance requirements. Every organization should have a comprehensive data destruction policy as a part of data management to be safe from accidental data breaches and minimize damages from cyber-attacks. In Europe, fines of € 19,447,300 have been imposed in 2022 alone for various infringements, including that of Article 17. The largest fine was imposed on Google LLC in Spain, valuing € 10 Million, on 18th May 2022. It is important to note that GDPR was the catalyst that prompted the enactment of data privacy laws in the US, starting with the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and followed by other states. These laws align very closely with GDPR, so strictness for non-compliance is severe. Data sanitization features prominently in all these laws. It would also be integral to the upcoming US federal data privacy law ADPPA (American Data Privacy and Protection Act).

One of the biggest advantages of data sanitization is that it reduces the data footprint in an organization’s storage realm. Reduced data footprint, in turn, significantly minimizes the data attack points (areas where an attack can be launched). This data reduction also means that the risk of an attack compromising data would be minimal. On the other hand, data breaches have severe monetary repercussions and can harm the organization’s brand value, customer confidence, investor sentiment, and trust. Therefore, organizations must endeavor to have a robust data destruction policy.

Data sanitization is also prominent in the ITAD (Information Technology Asset Disposition) industry and promotes the circular economy concept. Given the amount of sensitive and confidential information stored in the IT assets processed by the ITADs, their end-of-life disposal must be securely and reliably executed. Organizations have been physically destroying these devices to mitigate data leakage risks, but this process is counterproductive and especially harmful to the environment. Data sanitization is a powerful and tested way to securely destroy data to promote device reusability. In addition, reusing, reselling, or donating these devices can boost revenue, cut costs, and promote environmental sustainability.

Despite data sanitization’s importance and growing significance, many organizations remain unaware or indifferent to it. There is an urgent need for organizations to up the ante on data sanitization if they want to remain significant. It must be a standardized and automated feature in their data lifecycle management cycle to ensure operational efficiency and a secure data protection environment. Understanding Data sanitization and the methods that should be used to achieve it would place an organization well-suited and ready to achieve compliance and counter threats.

Methods & Approaches to Data Sanitization:

Three methods can be employed for achieving data sanitization as per NIST guidelines: Clear, Purge, and Destroy. The categories of sanitization are defined as follows:

Clear:
It employs a standard read/write function to overwrite the data in all user-accessible locations. NIST Clear Standard overwrites the data with binary 1’s & 0’s on the media. This is also known as overwriting or data erasure. This method provides moderate protection of data against simple recovery techniques. It can be used on floppy disk drives, ATA hard drives, SCSI drives, USBs, memory cards, and SSDs. The main advantage of this technique is that it promotes the reusability of media devices. However, the only disadvantage of this method is that it doesn’t address data stored in non-accessible or concealed storage locations. To address this concern, specialized data sanitization or data erasure software like BitRaser ensures that hidden areas like HPA and DCO can be erased.
Purge:
It applies physical or logical techniques that render target Data recovery infeasible using state-of-the-art laboratory techniques. Both Clear and Purge methods use the data erasure technique of overwriting the media. Whereas Clear uses only one pass overwrite, Purge employs three total write passes of a pseudorandom pattern so that the second write pass is the inverted version of the original pattern. This method extends the scope of the clear method by utilizing physical and logical techniques to render data irrecoverable. It is used while handling sensitive and confidential data compared to the clear technique. Using overwrite, block & cryptographic erase methods, the data cannot be recovered even in a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory. It can be used on floppy, hard disc drives (ATA, SCSI), flash media like USBs, memory cards, SSDs, etc. Unlike clear, it can also wipe data from non-accessible or concealed locations. As clear, this method is environmentally sound and helps reduce e-waste by promoting the reusability of assets.
Destroy:
It renders target data recovery infeasible using state-of-the-art laboratory techniques, resulting in the inability to use the media to store data. It uses physical destruction approaches like shredding, incineration, pulverization, etc., to destroy the storage device. However, destroy should be the last option when Clear and Purge fail to address all memory locations on the drive and when both erasure and sanitization verification become infeasible. This method can also be used for non-digital assets that cannot be sanitized using clear or Purge methods like printed papers, carbon paper, CDs, and DVDs. Although this method destroys the data, it doesn’t have any scope for verifying the data destruction. The main disadvantage of this method is its contribution to e-waste and the repetitive cost of buying new and destroying old equipment.

Data Sanitization Recommendations by NIST

Each method can be deployed per an organization’s requirement and the level of sanitization needed. Additionally, NIST advocates that organizations determine the sanitization method they need to deploy by considering the following factors:

Categories of the information and its confidentiality levels.
The storage medium and its manufacturing guidelines.
The future of the media, whether it would be reused, resold, or donated.

An essential step in NIST guidelines is the verification of sanitization. NIST prescribes two types of verifications:

Verifying after each sanitization step
Representative sampling means using a subset of media randomly to verify sanitization).

Furthermore, verification also includes:

Verify the equipment (Degausser, Incinerator, Shredder) used in the sanitization.
Verify the expertise of personnel doing the sanitization.
Verify the sanitization process on media.

Organizations may refer to the original publication by NIST to get a detailed understanding of these methods and how they apply to different media devices. Alternatively, the new age IEEE 2883-2022 standard for media sanitization may also be referred to find out the best way to sanitize the storage media.

Conclusion:

Protecting data is paramount, and the recent upsurge in federal and state data privacy laws bears witness to it. Data sanitization will continue to play a central role in data security and privacy. With the rapid growth of data-gathering devices and systems, its relevance will be more significant in times to come. Environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and socially responsible ways to ensure data sanitization will govern the future. Industries must adapt and implement prudent policies if they want to remain relevant in the future.

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FAQs

What is meant by data sanitization?

Data sanitization is the process of permanently destroying data on a storage device, making it irrecoverable by all means. Data sanitization ensures that data is irreversibly destroyed and renders the device reusable.

Why is data sanitization important?

It is important for:

Mitigating the risks involved with the disposal of IT assets
Protecting sensitive information
Meeting audit and compliance requirements
Prevention of data breaches

What are the 3 methods of data sanitization?

The 3 methods of data sanitization are physical destruction, cryptographic erasure, and data erasure.

How do you sanitize media?

Media can be irreversibly sanitized by following Clear, Purge, or Destroy guidelines as per NIST 800-88. Additionally, overwriting all addressable locations on a storage media ensures that data can never be recovered.

What is the NIST 800 88 standard?

NIST Special Publication 800-88 are guidelines that assist organizations in making sanitization decisions per the confidentiality of their data.