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Sale of Magnetic Data Tapes Previously Used by the Government Presents a Low Security Risk

GAO-07-1233R Published: Sep 21, 2007. Publicly Released: Sep 21, 2007.
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Highlights

The federal government widely uses magnetic tapes for data storage and data recovery. According to allegations made by a magnetic-tape company official, federal agencies are selling used magnetic tapes containing sensitive government data to companies which then resell them to the general public. While this is not an illegal practice, Congress is concerned that magnetic tapes containing sensitive government data have become available to the public in this manner. There is no general legal requirement that the government erase all data on all magnetic tapes before disposing of them. However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued guidelines that instruct agencies to properly sanitize magnetic tapes with certain kinds of sensitive data before they leave agency control. In its guidelines, NIST defines sanitization as the general process of removing data from storage media, such that there is reasonable assurance that the data may not be easily retrieved and reconstructed.

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AccountabilityData recoveryData storageData storage devicesFederal agenciesGovernment informationInformation securityInformation storage and retrievalInformation technologyMagnetic tapesRisk assessmentRisk management