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Difficulty: Very hardData Destruction and Disposal Methods

An IT security auditor is establishing standardized operational procedures for end-of-life media management and storage sanitization. Match each data destruction or disposition requirement on the left with the correct technique or compliance artifact on the right based on CompTIA A+ standards.

  • Decommissioning legacy magnetic reel tapes to permanently eliminate magnetic domains before physical recycling.Degaussing
  • Sanitizing healthy NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs) for internal organizational reuse while clearing over-provisioned blocks.NVMe Sanitize / ATA Secure Erase firmware command
  • Purging sensitive data from Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) almost instantaneously by rendering existing ciphertext unrecoverable.Cryptographic Erase (CE)
  • Establishing verifiable chain-of-custody and regulatory compliance documentation after third-party offsite physical drive shredding.Certificate of Destruction

Answer

1. Decommissioning magnetic tapes matches Degaussing.
2. Sanitizing NVMe SSDs for reuse matches NVMe Sanitize / ATA Secure Erase firmware command.
3. Purging Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) instantly matches Cryptographic Erase (CE).
4. Establishing compliance audit records after vendor shredding matches Certificate of Destruction.
Each requirement correctly pairs with its established industry protocol under CompTIA A+ standards: magnetic media requires degaussing; solid-state media requires firmware-based sanitization commands (NVMe Sanitize/ATA Secure Erase); hardware-encrypted drives utilize Cryptographic Erase; and outsourced destruction requires a formal Certificate of Destruction for legal compliance.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze magnetic storage media sanitization requirements.
Identify that magnetic tapes rely on magnetic orientation, which is permanently disrupted using a degausser.
Degaussing renders magnetic media unreadable by removing the magnetic alignment of stored data bits.
2
Determine the proper logical sanitization command for solid-state storage re-use.
Select NVMe Sanitize / ATA Secure Erase.
Standard OS formatting or degaussing does not affect solid-state drive cells; built-in controller firmware sanitize commands reset all blocks non-destructively.
3
Evaluate rapid sanitization for Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs).
Select Cryptographic Erase (CE).
CE destroys the symmetric Media Encryption Key (MEK), converting stored data into unsolvable ciphertext instantly.
4
Identify the audit artifact for offsite drive disposition.
Select Certificate of Destruction.
Regulatory frameworks require documented proof of destruction detailing drive serial numbers and destruction methods.

Key Concept

Data Destruction and Disposal Methods
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Data Destruction and Disposal Methods

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