Data Erasure Standards Guide

MASAMUNE supports 19 erasure methods across international standards. This guide explains each standard and when to use it.

NIST SP 800-88 Rev.1

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology standard for media sanitization. The most widely referenced standard globally.

Level	Method	Use Case	Devices
Clear	Single-pass overwrite (zeros or random)	Standard device reuse/resale	HDD, SSD, Mobile
Purge	ATA Secure Erase, NVMe Sanitize, Cryptographic Erase	High-security, government, regulated industries	SSD, NVMe, SED
Destroy	Physical destruction (shredding, degaussing)	Top-secret / classified data	All

DoD 5220.22-M

U.S. Department of Defense standard. Two variants supported:

• 3-pass: Write zeros → write ones → write random → verify
• 7-pass (ECE): Extended pattern for higher assurance

HMG IS5

UK Government standard (HMG Infosec Standard 5):

• Baseline: Single-pass overwrite with verification
• Enhanced: Three-pass overwrite with verification

Gutmann Method

35-pass overwrite. Originally designed for legacy magnetic media. Overkill for modern drives but required by some compliance frameworks.

IEEE 2883-2022

The latest international standard for storage device sanitization. Specifically addresses modern SSD/NVMe challenges including wear leveling and over-provisioning.

Hardware-Level Methods

Method	Speed	Device Type	How It Works
ATA Secure Erase	Seconds to minutes	SATA SSD/HDD	Drive firmware erases all cells
ATA Enhanced Secure Erase	Seconds to minutes	SATA SSD	Includes hidden/remapped areas
NVMe Format	Seconds	NVMe SSD	Firmware-level secure format
Cryptographic Erase	Instant	SED (Self-Encrypting Drives)	Destroys encryption key

Choosing the Right Standard