Hard drives are robust storage mediums. Nowadays, anyone can send a drive to a data recovery company to retrieve the vast majority of ‘deleted’ data. Furthermore many manufacturers are now engineering hard drives to include data retrieval processes.


To remove data from a hard drive to the point where the previous data is entirely unrecoverable, only by degaussing a hard drive will it be sufficient. Degaussers erase data by randomizing the magnetic charge of a hard drive using a powerful magnetic field. This field completely destroys any resemblance of previously recorded data.


Degaussing is a permanent method of data erasure, and the most widely recognized high-security method of disposal. You cannot use a hard drive after it’s been degaussed. This is because degaussing will also destroy the start-up program hard-coded into the hard drive, known as firmware. For more information, see our introduction to degaussers.