How to Wipe Data Using DoD 5220.22-M Standard?

The DoD 5220.22-M Standard for data wiping specifies the pattern and passes for overwriting the data stored on hard disk drives (HDDs) with an added verification step to ensure that the overwritten data is destroyed beyond the scope of recovery.  

BitRaser Drive Eraser software performs certified DoD data wiping as per the patterns and passes specified in the DoD 5220.22-M standard. The software tool generates a tamper-proof erasure report with details of the DoD data wiping methodology duly documented on the report.

This software KB explains a quick and easy method for DoD data wiping using BitRaser Drive Eraser, as follows:

Steps to perform DoD data wiping using BitRaser Drive Eraser:

Follow these quick instructions to start wiping your hard disk drive using DoD 5220.22-M method in less than 15 minutes.

Note: Visit the BitRaser Drive Eraser deployment guide for more detailed instructions. 

Requirements

• Blank USB: 1 GB or more for creating a bootable wiping media
• Internet: Ethernet or Wi-Fi
• Storage media

Stage 1: Download BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO file

• Log in to your BitRaser cloud account.
• Click Download BitRaser Drive ISO link in the dropdown menu.

Stage 2: Create BitRaser Drive Eraser bootable USB media
In this stage, you will create a bootable USB media by burning BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO image on a USB drive. To burn the ISO image, you will use Rufus – an-open source tool commonly used for creating bootable media. The bootable USB drive will allow you to perform DoD wiping without installing the BitRaser software. Here are the steps to create the bootable USB media:

1. Visit https://rufus.ie to download Rufus.
2. Install Rufus application on your storage media and then connect a USB drive to the system.
3. Launch Rufus and follow instructions in the below-annotated image. Click START to initiate the next steps for bootable USB media creation.

   

4. CLICK 'YES' on the pop-up message box to proceed further.

   

5. Click OK on the final pop-up confirmation message to start burning BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO file on USB.
   

   

After the process is completed, you will have a bootable USB media to initiate the data wiping process as per the DoD 5220.22-M standard.

Stage 3: Enable USB booting on your storage media

Start data wiping from the hard disk drive using the DoD 5220.22-M Standard, as follows:

• Connect the bootable USB media to the host machine (laptop or desktop PC) you need to wipe.
  • In this step, you can also plug in any external hard disk drive(s) to the host machine if you need to erase them.
• Power ON the host machine and press Function keys to enter the Boot menu

  

• Select USB Device, press Enter. The computer will boot, and BitRaser Menu will appear.

  

• Press Enter to initialize BitRaser Drive Eraser.
  • The software Home screen will appear after initialization, listing all the drives - including the build-in and externally connected USB drives connected to the host machine.

    

• Select the drive(s) you wish to erase.
• Select US Department of Defense, DoD 5220.22-M (3 passes) as the Erasure Method from the dropdown menu available at the bottom of the screen. Click Erase.
• Next, refer to BitRaser deployment guide (follow STEP 5 & onwards in STAGE 3) for further instructions on the DoD data wiping process.

After successful wiping, the software will generate digitally signed reports & certificate of erasure and save them automatically to your BitRaser Cloud account.