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What is Degaussing?

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Degaussing is the reduction, elimination or reorientation of a magnetic field. It began as a series of techniques for reducing the magnetic signatures of ships during WWII. Degaussing is also used as a means of physically destroying data on magnetic media such as a hard drive.

Degaussing vs Data Remanence

Data remanence is the tendency for data to be recoverable after deleting it.
Degaussing is a security and privacy technique for eliminating data remanence by physically resetting the magnetic signature of a device. In many cases, this damages the device rendering it unusable. Generally speaking, modern hard drives are unusable after degaussing.

Degaussing Process

It is common for organizations to perform a data wipe on a device before degaussing. This may involve three passes that overwrite all data with all zeros, all ones and finally a series of random data. Degaussing requires a specialized machine known as a degausser that applies magnetic forces in patterns that destroy data remanence.
Overview: Degaussing
Type
Definition
The reduction, elimination or reorientation of a magnetic field.
Value
Completely erasing all traces of data on magnetic storage devices.
Related Concepts

Information Security

This is the complete list of articles we have written about information security.
Audit Trail
Canary Trap
Confidential Information
Critical Infrastructure
Cryptographic Keys
Cryptographic Salt
Cryptography
Cybersecurity Risk
Data Breach
Data Remanence
Data Room
Data Security
Deep Magic
Defense In Depth
Degaussing
Digital Identity
Failure Of Imagination
Geofencing
Hardening
Honeypot
IoT Security
Key Stretching
Network Security
Non-repudiation
Nonce
Operations Security
Overlay Network
Password Entropy
Password Fatigue
Proof Of Work
Sandbox
Secure Code Review
Security As A Service
Security Controls
Zero-day
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