220-1102 Question 296
Single answerOperationA technician is preparing to retire 40 company laptops that stored customer financial data. Management wants the drives handled in a way that prevents data recovery and also allows the company to dispose of the systems through an e-waste recycling vendor. Which action should the technician take FIRST to meet both requirements?
- A
Perform a standard quick format on each drive and send the laptops to recycling
- B
Use a file shredder to delete user folders, then reinstall the operating system
- C
Run a full drive wipe using an approved data sanitization method, then send the laptops to the recycling vendor
- D
Remove the laptops from the domain and delete the computer accounts from Active Directory
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The key issue is secure disposal of systems that contained sensitive customer financial data. In A+ Core 2 operational procedures, technicians are expected to follow proper data destruction and disposal practices when decommissioning assets. Secure sanitization of the storage media must occur before recycling or disposal. A simple format, OS reinstall, or account removal does not adequately prevent data recovery. Best practice is to use an approved sanitization process for the drive and then follow organizational policy for e-waste handling. This approach is consistent with widely accepted guidance such as NIST media sanitization recommendations and standard organizational asset disposal procedures.
- A. Incorrect.
A quick format is not sufficient for secure data disposal. It primarily removes file system references and prepares the volume for reuse, but data may still be recoverable with forensic or recovery tools. This is a common misconception because formatting feels like erasing, but it does not meet secure sanitization expectations for sensitive financial data.
- B. Incorrect.
Using a file shredder only on user folders is incomplete because sensitive information may exist in temporary files, paging files, unallocated space, system caches, or other locations outside the selected folders. Reinstalling the operating system also does not guarantee that underlying data is unrecoverable. This option reflects a partial cleanup approach rather than full media sanitization.
- C. Correct.
This is the best answer. A full drive wipe using an approved sanitization method is the appropriate first step when retiring systems that contained sensitive data. After the data is securely sanitized, the laptops can be transferred to an e-waste recycling vendor. This aligns with standard operational best practices for asset disposition and data destruction before disposal or recycling.
- D. Incorrect.
Removing devices from the domain is an administrative cleanup step, but it does nothing to protect the data stored locally on the drives. A technician might choose this because it is part of decommissioning, but it does not address the primary requirement of preventing data recovery before disposal.