In accordance with NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, your team must Clear-level sanitize several 1 TB SATA hard disks from a retiring application server so they can be reused in a lab environment. Policy further states that the selected method should complete as quickly as possible and impose the least additional wear on the drives. Which disk-wiping procedure BEST satisfies these requirements?
Issue the ATA Secure Erase (Security Erase Unit) command to perform a single-pass firmware overwrite and generate a verification log.
Degauss every drive in a bulk degausser and dispose of the media afterwards.
Run a 7-pass DoD 5220.22-M software overwrite against each drive.
Perform a quick format of each volume and then delete all partitions.
The ATA Security Erase Unit ("Secure Erase") command is executed inside the drive's firmware, overwriting every user-addressable and spare sector in a single pass. NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1 notes that one overwrite pass is sufficient to Clear magnetic hard-disk media, and the internal firmware routine finishes far faster (often seconds to minutes) than host-based multi-pass tools, while causing minimal additional mechanical wear, so the drives remain fully reusable. A 7-pass DoD 5220.22-M overwrite would also remove data but takes much longer and needlessly stresses the hardware. A quick format only deletes file-system metadata, leaving the underlying data recoverable. Degaussing destroys the drive's servo information, rendering the disk unusable and therefore unsuitable for redeployment.
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What is ATA Secure Erase?
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How does ATA Secure Erase compare to DoD 5220.22-M overwriting?
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Why is degaussing not suitable for reusable drives?