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One of the major topics of cybersecurity is sheltering your data against data breaches. And while many Internet users have in place measures to protect their information from hackers’ hands while using them, once they delete the data, they might consider themselves out of the hook.
The truth is that important information can be restored or recuperated even after it has been deleted by the user. That is why data erasure is a safety measure, making sure that your data is really gone in an eco- and budget-friendly way.
Read this article to find out what data erasure is, how it works, and what benefits can bring you.
What is Data Erasure
Data erasure is a method of data sanitization that uses a software-based process to completely destroy data, beyond any recovery. The software overwrites the information by using random binary data – zeros and ones -, according to predetermined criteria, in all the sectors of a storage device. Then the software is checking and validating that the erasure was successful.
It can target data stored on active and inactive media and on a range of devices: laptops, PCs, mobile devices, removable media, drives, and cloud environments. And it is an essential step in any secure hardware discard or decommissioning procedure.
Because is software-based, after overwriting zeros and ones onto all the data from a digital storage device, the functionalities of the machine are intact. This differentiates this procedure from other traditional techniques that can damage the device. Targeted data erasure is used to destroy a certain file, folder, or data from a given location, leaving the rest of the data intact.
How Data Erasure Works
A data erasure software will destroy the selected information by overwriting them with pseudo-random data and then will check the processed information to be sure that it is beyond recovery.
On mobile devices, such software usually will allow a remote erasure if the wrong credentials are logged in, keeping your data safe in case of theft or if you lose a device.
To sanitize data, a software will:
- Give you the option to select a certain standard (required by your industry or your organization).
- Confirm that the data was permanently removed in its integrity.
- Offer a temper-proof certificate after the data erasure process is finished. This certificated may contain details about the data sanitization that took place (devices involved, standards used, etc.)
Types of data erasure:
- Overwriting it with non-sensitive data by software.
- Block erase data using a software that targets block addresses on the storage device.
- Cryptographic erase is used to destroy data on devices with built-in data encryption by destroying the key needed to decode the information.
How Is Data Erasure Useful?
Data erasure is not just a matter of security, it also brings benefits to the compliance sector, regarding resource allocation and in maximizing your budget all over the IT structure.
Keeps you safe from data breaches
According to recent research, a data breach typically costs a company $3.92 million, so you are losing a lot of money on top of valuable information. One reason that could lead to such an incident is that when you delete a file, the info is not really gone, just the pointers are removed, so that file can be easily recovered. That is why is important to apply the right data sanitization methods to destroy your data to all your devices and environments, even when we speak about remote erasure.
Assures compliance
Obeying data erasure standards not only will put your mind at ease knowing that that data could never be restored but will also provide you with certificates of erasure for compliance purposes. This will be useful to prove that your organization meets several data protection regulations – like GDPR – across different industries, and will help you avoid fines and penalties.
It is environmentally friendly
It is an eco-friendly method of data destruction as, after the data is removed, devices can be safely used to their full capacities. This will reduce the electronic waste of an organization as the machines can be repurposed, donated, or sold after data sanitization.
Utilizes resources effectively
To dispose of hardware assets that you no longer use involves procedures and infrastructures that will cost you additionally to the sums of money you are spending to replace those devices. Cleaning them out of data will mean way less pressure on your IT budget. What is more, you can do these procedures on-site, without moving around machines with precious information and adding moving costs.
Data Erasure Standards
Different standards are used to be sure that highly important information doesn’t get into the wrong hands and that data is fully erased. They are created by authorities and agencies in need of a strong data sanitization method.
These are the most widely used standards that will help you with your data privacy:
- The United States Department of Defense created the DoD 5220.22-M, one of the most secure standards for data sanitization and it has 3 of 7 steps.
- The US Army AR 380-19 data erasure standard removes the data in three phases.
- The United States Air Force (USAF) uses a standard called AFSSI-5020.
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) created the TSSIT OPS-II method.
- The British HMG IS5 data removing method.
- The Gutmann data sanitization method was invented by the computer scientist Peter Gutmann in 1996.
- The GOST-R-50739-95 is a Russian standard.
Other Data Sanitization Methods
There are other data sanitization methods that you can use, but they are incomplete, not making the targeted data unrecoverable. What is more, these other methods do not cover verification and certification steps.
Data erasure reduces the possibility of unauthorized parties gaining access to important company data.
Other methods of partial data sanitization are:
- Data Deletion
- Reformatting
- Factory Reset
- Data Wiping
- File Shredding
What is the difference between data deletion and data erasure?
We already touched on partial data sanitization methods, but let’s find out more about the major differences between data deletion and data erasure. They both remove data, but they don’t have the same goal, technique, or result.
Data deletion removes the selected files’ pointers, but this does not erase the file itself or its content. Although the data is unavailable to the user, it can be restored from the storage medium using a data recovery software.
Data erasure, as we know, uses software to overwrite the data, making it useless. The data is destroyed or replaced with binary patterns that make it unreadable.
To summarize all this:
Data deletion
- Deletes the address of the file.
- The data can be recovered.
Data erasure
- Overwrites data.
- The data is unrecoverable.
How Can Heimdal® Help?
The goal is to keep all your data safe, for this Heimdal Endpoint Detection and Response offers a complex cybersecurity technology designed to protect endpoints and continuously monitor them for anomalies, as well as to respond to mitigate cybersecurity threats.
When threats arise, Heimdal’s EDR provides greater visibility into corporate endpoints and allows for faster response times, stopping an attack at its beginning.
Some of our most crucial modules are included in our EDR service (Threat Prevention, Patch and Asset Management, Next-Gen Antivirus, Ransomware Encryption Protection, Privileged Access Management, and Application Control), ensuring the following features: automated detection and remediation, machine learning, threat intelligence, application control, patch and vulnerability management, privileged access management, intelligent alerting, and reporting.
Heimdal® DNS Security Solution
- Machine learning powered scans for all incoming online traffic;
- Stops data breaches before sensitive info can be exposed to the outside;
- Advanced DNS, HTTP and HTTPS filtering for all your endpoints;
- Protection against data leakage, APTs, ransomware and exploits;
Wrapping Up…
Data erasure is in the public eye because of the rising need for a safe and reliable data destruction procedure. The vast amount of data handled by each company, the frequency of data breaches, and the short life of IT assets, are just a few reasons that created this need between companies and individuals as well. You have to keep safe even the data you don’t need anymore.
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