Schneier - SECURELY DELETES DATA FROM DISKS

Schneier (7 pass – Data Sanitization Method)

We use the following method as default since it is one of the best methods on the
market. Erasing a hard drive using the Schneier data sanitization method will prevent
all software based file recovery methods from finding information on the drive and is
also likely to prevent most hardware-based recovery methods from extracting
information. In short, the Schneier method overwrites the data on a storage device
with a one, and then a zero, and finally with several passes of random characters.
There's more detail on this below, as well as a few examples of programs that include
the Schneier method as an option when erasing data.

All data sanitization methods work in a similar fashion but they aren't always
implemented in the same way. For example, the Write Zero method overwrites data
with zeros only. Others, like Random Data, just use random characters. HMG IS5 is
very similar in that it writes a zero, then a one, and then a random character, but only
one pass of a random character.

However, with the Schneier method, there's a combination of multiple passes of

random characters as well as zeros and ones. This is how it's normally implemented:

 Pass 1: Writes a one

 Pass 2: Writes a zero
 Pass 3: Writes a stream of random characters
 Pass 4: Writes a stream of random characters
 Pass 5: Writes a stream of random characters
 Pass 6: Writes a stream of random characters
 Pass 7: Writes a stream of random characters