Explore the Top 8 Data Sanitization Methods for Protection

Data security techniques are of immense importance in the present era of cyber threats. Some of the best safety practices are data integrity, protecting your crucial data against vulnerability, cyber threats, and protecting it against potential attacks. Good data can contribute to the growth of any organization. As against it, worse data quality can contribute to the financial loss of any organization.

As per a report from Gartner, Every year, poor data quality can cost organizations around 12.9 Billion Dollars on average. Therefore, practices like data sanitation have become an integral part in any organization. This post is devoted to helping our readers know what data sanitization is, what diverse data sanitization methods are, and its best practices.

What is Data Sanitization?

Data sanitization is permanently deleting or destroying data from storage devices. This practice ensures that no person or entity can recover the particular data anywhere. Every organization must perform data sanitization practices amidst the escalating crises of data breaches and e-waste management.

Importance of Data Sanitization for Data Protection

Data sanitation practices have become the talk of the town in the context of cyber threats and data malpractices. Given the impact of cyber threats, many countries have enacted several laws to ensure data safety and prevent cyber security. The U.S. government has enacted laws and created guidelines for media Sanitization. They have formulated the NIST 800-88 Act, which specifies the procedures for media sanitization practices. Similar laws are present in countries like Spain and California.

In a country like India, where cyber breaches have become common, we often need data sanitization procedure. Let’s consider the importance of data sanitization practices.

1. Legal Compliance
   Securing sensitive data is sometimes mandatory according to a country’s rules and regulations. Therefore, data sanitization practices are essential for any organization to comply with legal requirements.
2.  Protection against Data Breaches
   Data violations and breaches have become a serious security concern for everyone. So, to prevent this, implementing data sanitization practices is a great way to achieve your goals.
3. Solves Data leakage concerns
   Sometimes, we encounter the cases of data leakage in any organization due to human error. It is imperative to stop accidental leakage of data. Therefore, the practice of data sanitization is often carried out in several organizations.
4. Prevents Reputation Damage
   Bad data practices harm an organization’s reputation, and clients don’t trust its data practices. Therefore, to ensure good data practices, experts should implement techniques like Data sanitization in any organization.
5. Safeguards Personal Identity
   Incorporating data sanitization practices can help us protect our personal information as well. Anyone can use personal information like name and address to steal identity and commit fraud. Therefore, we can prevent such scams and data malpractices by performing secured data sanitization methods.

Explore the Top 8 Data Sanitization Methods Here

If executed securely, data sanitization methods can significantly prevent bad data practices in any organization. Let’s know some of the data sanitization techniques in detail.

Method 1: Physical Destruction

Physical destruction is one of the most effective data sanitization methods. Sanitizing physical devices is one of the standard yet secure practices that every organization can adopt. Physical destruction of storage devices includes crushing, bending, or pulverizing the storage device. This method assures immediate data sanitization; therefore, it is the most sought-after method for practicing data sanitization in the long run.

Examples of physical destruction include:

• Destroying a hard disk
• Leading to several other practices
• Destroying an old laptop with an embedded hard disk

Government organizations and defense contractors employ physical destruction practices to destroy their data.

Method 2: Degaussing

Among all the secure data sanitization techniques, Degaussing is one of the most renowned. Degaussing is a machine that helps us destroy the data stored on hard drives, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes. In this process, we change the alignment of a magnetic tape on a particular medium, such as a hard drive, floppy disk, or other storage devices.

Degaussing is quite helpful in completely erasing audio, video, and data signals from magnetic storage devices.

Degaussing is a process that gives us instant results. Unfortunately, it does not work on all types of storage media. For example, you cannot implement this method on new devices such as SSDs.

Method 3: Overwriting

Overwriting is another widely practiced technique for effective data sanitization. It involves overwriting the existing data with random patterns of information or numbers. Overwriting makes the existing data completely obscure; therefore, the storage devices and information remain illegible to everyone. It overwrites the existing data in the form of 0s and 1s.

Method 4: Cryptographic Erasure

Another data destruction method that various organizations practice is Cryptographic Erasure. In this method, different organizations use a public cryptographic key. This key is quite strong and is of 128 bits.

Cryptographic Erasure is a technique in which any random person or organization cannot decrypt the data. Without using the cryptographic key Hence, the data becomes unalterable. It uses encryption techniques to incorporate the best data sanitization practices.

Method 5: Shredding

Shredding is another effective data destruction method that helps in preventing bad data practices. It is similar to paper shredding, however, it involves mechanically cutting the storage devices into tiny pieces.

Method 6: Data Masking

It is the another important data sanitization methods that many compliance strategies follows. Data masking involves creating fake versions of data. Some common examples of data masking techniques include character shuffling, and word replacement.

Method 7: Data Erasure

Data Erasure is one of the best Data sanitization approaches because it uses software to overwrite the data in 0s and 1s. Also, this technique leaves no traces of past data on any storage devices.

Using data erasure software is the most effective method that ensures good data practices in any organization.

Method 8: Go Professional Data Sanitization Software

After going through data sanitization techniques, do you want to go with professional data sanitization software? Don’t worry; we have got you covered with our BitRecover Data Wipe Software.

There is no denying that you have plenty of options when it comes to choosing Data sanitization software. Your crucial concern at this point is why you should opt for BitRecover. Our key specialties make us different.

Count on BitRecover Due to these Amazing Benefits

• Our software will rewrite the entire disk area four times.
• Also, certified and compliant secure data erasure application.
• This software assures complete data sanitize from folders and logical drives.
• This software is perfectly suitable for different storage devices and media, such as laptops, desktops, PCs, removable devices, and portable devices.
• Also, our software helps you to secure confidential and sensitive information, Accounting data, and records and avoid developer source code theft and CCTV camera recordings.

Over to You

All in all, various data sanitization methods help us maintain good data practices. However, using professional software is the most effective means to secure your data and prevent it from being harmed by evil practices. Also, Data Sanitization Software certainly stands out because of its unique features.

We assist you in your data sanitization operations. Now, you can easily use this software for personal use, at the business and enterprise levels, with developers for safeguarding code, and with law enforcement agencies. Book our services or contact us for more information. We assure you the best software assistance at affordable prices.