Media Disposal [CUI Data]

Sanitize or destroy system media containing CUI before disposal or release for reuse.

“Media” refers to a broad range of items that store information, including paper documents, disks, tapes, digital photography, USB drives, CDs, DVDs, and mobile phones. It is important to know what information is on media so that you can handle it properly. If there is CUI, you or someone in your company should either: • shred or destroy the device before disposal so it cannot be read; or • clean or purge the information, if you want to reuse the device. See NIST Special Publication 800-88, Revision 1, Guidelines for Media Sanitization, for more information. Example As you pack for an office move, you find some old CDs in a file cabinet. You determine that one has information about an old project your company did for the DoD. You shred the CD rather than simply throwing it in the trash [a]. Potential Assessment Considerations • Is all managed data storage erased, encrypted, or destroyed using mechanisms to ensure that no usable data is retrievable [a,b]?