Data Sanitization Standards Compliance

This question asks if the vendor follows military-grade (DoD) or government-approved (NIST) standards when destroying data on old hard drives or devices. These standards ensure data is completely unrecoverable - like shredding documents instead of just throwing them in the trash. It refers back to their media handling process from question DATA-15.

Improper data destruction can lead to massive breaches when old equipment is sold, recycled, or disposed of with recoverable data still on it. Following DoD/NIST standards ensures complete data destruction, protects against data recovery attacks, and demonstrates compliance with regulatory requirements. This is critical for maintaining customer trust and avoiding costly breach notifications.

Companies often claim to 'wipe' data but use simple deletion methods that can be reversed with basic recovery tools. Another mistake is following standards for some devices but not others, like properly destroying server drives but forgetting about backup tapes or employee laptops.