SEMINAR: Physics Seminar

The disposal of hard disk drives represents a significant potential risk for the leakage of classified, confidential or personal information from agencies, businesses and individuals. In order to safely dispose of drives it is essential that drives be correctly sanitized, i.e. that the data be destroyed in such a way that is irretrievable via data recovery techniques. Following a brief introduction to the science and engineering of hard disk drives, this talk will review data recovery technology and address some of the myths and legends that have proliferated regarding data recovery. Data sanitization procedures will be evaluated and strengths and weaknesses of different techniques discussed. How recent changes to drive technology affect sanitization procedures will be examined and the likely effect of future developments in drive technology will be considered.