Media Sanitization at the Idaho National Laboratory
Jonathan Bates
NLIT 2009
INL’s IT By the Numbers
• 12,000 IT Devices owned by INL
• 9,000 Devices on the Network
• 5,500 Desktop & Laptop Computers
• Operating Systems (85% Windows, 9% Mac, 6% Linux)
• Dell Shop (95% Windows Based Computers are Dell)• Office Desktops – Dell Optiplex
• Laptops – Dell Latitude
• Engineering Workstations – Dell Precision
Role of IT in Managing End of Life Technology
Control Costs – keep the end in mind
Go Green – reduce, reuse, and recycle
Protect the data!
Importance of Media TrackingTracking – Documentation – Verification
Linking data: chain of custody
Verification reporting
Label generation
Sanitization ProcessesTwo Previous Sanitization Processes
• Clear media and re-use (3 pass overwrite)
• Purge (degauss)
Clearing and Reusing
• Pros
– Media can be reused
• Cons
– Increased management complexity =
– Increased security risk
• Pros
– Fast purging of Magnetic Media
Degaussing Pros and Cons
• Cons– Media appeared to be intact
after degaussing– Time spent in tracking and
labeling degaussed media– Stacked media on pallets had
to be stored in open area due to space needs
– Increased auditor visits because media appeared to be fit for use
Taking sanitization to the next level
• Changes needed to streamline our processes and tighten security
– Reduce footprint
– Reduce validation costs
– Reduce time sanitizing media
– Reduce time tracking media
– Reduce security risk of data leakage
Our Solution… Destroy
• Drive Disintegrator– Compact: 5 feet wide x 9 feet long x 8
feet high
– Can disintegrate 20 drives per hour
– Automated self-feed feature
– Reduces media to ¼ inch unrecognizable fragments
– Destroyed 7,456 drives last year!
Challenges
Disintegrator design is critical
• Mechanical
• Operational
• Maintenance
Disintegrator vs. Shredder
Reduced Footprint• Shredded material requires less space to store
Increased Physical Access Control
• Reduced footprint allowed for move to new facility to improve security
– Work area is secured by cipher locks
– Hard drives and other media that are pending destruction are stored in a security cage within the work area, accessible only by key
Tighter Integration with Property Management
Educating Property Management and Disposal personnel on identifying types of equipment to be submitted for sanitization
Streamlined Tracking
• Need for continuous media tracking eliminated
– All drive media destroyed
• Redeployed computers receive new hard drive
The FutureContinual Improvement
Evaluating…
• User-based or distributed processes
• Sanitization methods for different media types
• How is your lab sanitizing media?