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The Tip of the Night for April 28, 2022 discussed how degaussing disrupts the magnet ic field of hard drives and and tapes, erasing stored data. High volume degaussing devices exist which can erase hundreds of devices in an hour. Data Security, Inc. markets a machine which can both degauss and physically destroy drives fed into it on a conveyor belt.
Keep in mind that a solid state drive cannot be degaussed, because it does not store data magnetically.
The Tip of the Night for April 28, 2021 discussed Degaussing, which erases magnetic storage media by altering magnetic fields. Different drives and tapes will have varying 'coercivity'. Coercivity is the intensity of the magnetic field required to eliminate the magnetization of the storage device. Different kinds of magnetic media are classified into one of three types based on their oersted count - a unit of magnetic field strength.
Type I devices will have 350 oersteds or less. Type II magnetic media have between 350 and 750 oersteds. Type III storage devices will possess more than 750 Oe.
Not all Degaussers can erase every type of magnetic media. For example, the HP LTO-8 30 TB data tape cartridge, available here, has a magnetic coercivity of 2300 Oe.
A guide to Degaussers published by the National Security Agency in June 2019, NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List for
Magnetic Degaussers, rates Degaussers based on their Oe rating. As you can see, older model Degaussers will not be able to successfully erase this HP tape.
The oersted rating for a Degausser may differ based on whether the media being erased is a drive or a tape.
Magnet Forensics Axiom is a forensics tool which can be used to collect and analyze data from computers and smartphones. Chat messages and web browsing history can be pulled from iPhones and Androids, and data can be recovered from apps like SnapChat.
It also can collect artifact data from Zoom software installed on a Windows PC, or mobile phones. The artifact data differs from the actual user added content in that rather than being content the user intentionally creates and views, it is the data that is left behind from the use of the application.
With the login info for the system Zoom was installed on, Axiom can decrypt artifact data to thread chat messages together.
The artifact data can serve as a record showing who exchanged messages and when they were exchanged.
