How to perform a DoD security disk erasure?
Sometimes refered to as disk, tape, or media declassification, as formatting, as pattern erasure, or occasionally by the generic reference of data remanence. Various references to the US Deparment of Defence (DoD) or NCSC “Rainbow Books” documentation are also seen in this context. While this erasure task might initially appear quite easy, basic characteristics of the storage media and of the device error recovery and bad block handling can make this effort far more difficult than it might initially appear. Obviously, data security and sensitivity, the costs of exposure, applicable legal or administrative requirements (DoD, HIPPA or otherwise), and the intrinsic value of the data involved are all central factors in this discussion and in the decision of the appropriate resolution, as is the value of the storage hardware involved. With data of greater value or with data exposure (sometimes far) more costly than the residual value of the disk storage involved, the physical destruction of
