Security officers should be consulted for appropriate guidance. Overwriting Overwriting is an effective method of clearing data from magnetic media. The number of times that media is overwritten depends on the level of sensitivity of the information. Overwriting should not be confused with merely deleting the pointer to a file, as discussed above. Regular preventative maintenance can help keep drives in working order to minimize head crashes.
Many programs are available, particularly for PCs, that have an overwrite function.
Although overwriting can be used for clearing magnetic tapes, this method is time-consuming and generally never used. Degaussing, as discussed below, is a better alternative. In the design of sensitive applications, software developers may wish to consider integrating overwrite capability directly into the application. Degaussing Degaussing is a method to magnetically erase data from magnetic media. The final method of sanitization is destruction of the media.