Benefits:
Reduced Risk of Data Breaches: Sanitization or destruction effectively eliminates the possibility of data recovery from discarded media, minimizing the risk of inadvertent exposure or exploitation by unauthorized individuals.
Enhanced Compliance: Implementing this control demonstrates an organization's commitment to protecting CUI and adherence to regulatory requirements, which can be crucial for securing contracts and maintaining trust with stakeholders.
Improved Data Security Posture: By establishing a standardized process for media disposal, organizations can proactively address potential vulnerabilities and build a stronger information security foundation.
Accountability:
Senior Management: Sets the tone: Establishes security policies and procedures for media handling, including sanitization/destruction. Allocates resources: Ensures adequate funding and staffing for secure media disposal practices. Monitors compliance: Oversees the implementation and effectiveness of CUI media handling procedures.
IT Security Team: Develops and implements: Creates detailed procedures for sanitization/destruction, considering sensitivity of data and media type. Provides guidance and training: Educates system owners, users, and other stakeholders on secure media handling practices. Maintains and updates: Ensures procedures align with evolving technology and security threats.
System Owners: Inventory and classify: Identify systems and media containing CUI, classifying data based on sensitivity. Implement procedures: Enforce CUI media handling procedures within their respective systems and environments. Report and document: Track and document CUI media disposal/reuse activities for auditing purposes.
Individual Users: Follow procedures: Adhere to established guidelines for secure handling of CUI media, including sanitization/destruction at disposal or reuse. Report concerns: Raise potential violations or security vulnerabilities related to CUI media handling to the IT security team.
Implementation:
Develop Clear Policies: Define procedures for media sanitization and destruction, including specific methods for different media types (hard drives, tapes, paper documents) and data classifications.
Invest in Sanitization Tools: Utilize software or hardware tools certified to overwrite data on electronic media, rendering it unrecoverable.
Employ Secure Destruction Methods: Ensure physical media is physically destroyed in a way that prevents data retrieval, such as shredding or degaussing.
Train Personnel: Educate employees on the importance of data security and proper disposal practices for media containing CUI.
Maintain Records: Document the sanitization or destruction process, including the media type, data classification, and method used, for audit purposes.
