 Security StrategiesThis newsletter is sponsored by WebsenseNetwork World's Security Strategies Newsletter, 08/07/07Disk data remanence: Part 2By M. E. KabayIn my most recent column, I briefly reviewed the seriousness of the data remanence problem on discarded disk drives. Today I want to wrap up with a pointer to an interesting product about which I have recently learned: Ensconce Data Technology’s Digital Shredder. The online demo is unusually well done, with clear images, succinct and informative commentary, and useful details for a security or network administrator. The introduction begins with a statement of the need for proper “decommissioning” of hard drives and shows a good summary table listing U.S. laws and other factors that impel organizations to ensure that discarded or repurposed drives have been properly wiped: Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Sarbanes-Oxley (see a recent article about SOx compliance from Network World's Technology Update), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (see an interesting article about a HIPAA audit in Computerworld).
The demo continues with a review of the methods for sanitizing disk drives. Software overwriting alone, they say, is not trustworthy because the choice of algorithm may be inadequate and because certain portions of the drive may not be overwritten at all. Degaussing is unreliable and even dangerous; sometimes drives are damaged so that they cannot be checked to evaluate the completeness of data wiping. The strong magnetic fields can also unintentionally damage other equipment. Outsourcing degaussing introduces problems of having to store drives until pickup, losing control over data and not being able to provide authenticated records of the data destruction. Physical shredders are expensive and usually offered only by outside companies, leading to similar problems of temporary storage, relinquishing control and dubious audit trails. The Digital Shredder is a small, portable hardware device that provides a wide range of interfaces (cloyingly called “personality modules”) covering today’s disk drives. The design objectives, quoting the company, were to provide: 1. Destruction of data beyond forensic recovery The unit can wipe up to three disks at once. It includes its own touch screen; offers user authentication with passwords to ensure that it is not misused by unauthorized personnel; provides positive indications through colored LEDs to show the current status of each bay; can format drives for a range of file systems; and can be used to re-image a drive by make bitwise copies from a master drive in one bay to a reformatted drive in another. Readers can download a 13-page White Paper about the problem and the product without even having to register (!). I wish more companies were so open about providing information freely. Based solely on the materials I have seen, this device looks interesting. [DISCLAIMER: As always, I want it clearly understood that I have no financial interest whatever in this product and have not even had any contact with the company other than receiving a pamphlet and reviewing their Web site.]
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| Contact the author: M. E. Kabay, Ph.D., CISSP-ISSMP, is Associate Professor of Information Assurance and CTO of the School of Graduate Studies at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. Mich can be reached by e-mail and his Web site. This newsletter is sponsored by WebsenseARCHIVEArchive of the Security Strategies Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007  |
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