
Erasure algorithms are a set of rules and instructions or in other words – a formula to destroy the data from a memory device by overwriting it with random bits (values/characters) of data either once, twice, or several times and verifying it at the same time. The data erasure tool such as BitRaser File Eraser offers multiple erasure algorithms that ensure data is destroyed beyond the scope of recovery. Therefore, it’s important that you completely destroy the data from your storage devices by using a data erasure tool before disposing them off, discarding them or else donating them to someone. Thus, the actual data still remains on the drive and can be easily recovered with the help of a basic data recovery tool. Deleting a file only removes the entry of the file (pointer) from the file index in a file system. Will leave data on the disk if the file size is greater than 32KB.Deletion is never secure. First/last 16KB Erasure (File Erasure Only) – A fast, simple method for making files hard to find/recover.Pseudorandom Data (1 pass) – A fast sanitization method that writes random data over the existing data.British HMG IS5 (Baseline) (1 pass) – This is a single-pass method that serves as the baseline for HMG IS5.Russian GOST P50739-95 (2 passes) – This method was defined by Russia and uses 2 passes (the first writing zeroes over all data, the second writing random data) to sanitize a disk.Like US Air force 5020, the magnetic media section is just part of a larger document covering all sorts of information systems. US Army AR380-19 (3 passes) – A 3-pass system for sanitizing magnetic media defined by the US Army.Part of a larger document covering all sorts of information systems. US Air Force 5020 (3 passes) – A 3-pass system for sanitizing magnetic media defined by the US Air Force.British HMG IS5 (Enhanced) (3 passes) – This 3-pass approach is the more secure of two methods (Enhanced and Basic) defined in HMG IS5.US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306./E) (3 passes) – A 3-pass sanitization method specified by the United States Department of Defense.

German VSITR (7 passes) – Developed for Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, this 7-pass method is no longer used by that government for erasing classified information and documents but is more than sufficient for most civilian uses.Schneier 7 pass (7 passes) – Designed by Bruce Schneier, this method uses 7 passes and was originally laid out in Schneier’s book, “ Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C”.US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306./E, C & E) (7 passes) – A 7-pass sanitization method specified by the United States Department of Defense.Overwrites the data with 35 different patterns, some of which are irrelevant for modern disk drives. Gutmann (35 passes) – Designed in 1996 to erase drives when you don’t know the algorithm used to encode the data on the disk.
