The vulnerability of information stored on magnetic media has
always been recognized as a security risk, especially at the time
of disposal. Think of all the information that could be on it,
including financial information, sales reports, client/personnel
file, sensitive market and product information, classified defense
material, design data and other confidential government documents.
It is simply not enough to delete, reformat, or overwrite sensitive
information when disposing off this media. The most effective
and completely secure method is degaussing.
Degaussing takes its name from John Gauss (1777-1855), a
mathematician who studied and worked on electro-magnetic fields. It
is used today to describe the process of erasing magnetic media
i.e., removing from the media remnants of previously recorded
signals.
The process of degaussing is achieved by passing the magnetic media
through a powerful magnetic field to rearrange the polarity of the
particles, thus completely removing any resemblance of the
previously recorded signal. Although this process of course is
simple in theory, in practice, the vast variation of media formats
and magnetic densities makes the correct degaussing process quite
difficult to achieve.
Degaussing is effective in computer data security and broadcast.
Benefits include improvement in the quality of output, sizeable
saving in operating costs and assurance that all sensitive data has
been erased permanently. The computer security industry is the
biggest growth area, reducing media overheads, security of
information are areas benefiting the computer user.
Degaussers are sometimes called “Bulk Erasers” because
the entire tape, cartridge, floppy disk etc, is erased. In some
cases, whole packs of media i.e., a box of 100 diskettes can be
erased at once.
For many enterprises, it is necessary to dispose data storage media
and computer terminals. This can be due to damage, a change to a
different format or a basic upgrade of computer equipment.
There is another data security area, which can be far more damaging
than data storage media- the PC hard disk drive. Most PC
terminals have a hard disk drive, with huge memory capacity, which
will stay with that computer, even at the time of disposal.
Like other data storage media, the data on the hard disk drives has
to be completely erased before disposal, therefore, safe guarding
company information. Degaussers are hence, a viable option for
achieving this objective.
Source: Ansata Computer Systems, Distributor for Verity
Systems, a leading manufacturer of Degaussers