Degaussing on an NSA-listed degausser
Magnetic hard drives and tape cartridges erased on the Data Security LM-1, a conveyor-fed permanent-magnet degausser on the NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List, at up to 1,300 items an hour. Degaussing is the required first step for classified magnetic media and a NIST 800-88 Purge method on its own.
What degaussing does
A degausser applies a magnetic field strong enough to overwhelm the coercivity of the recording medium and randomize every magnetic grain on it. The data is gone, and so are the servo tracks the drive needs to find its own platters, which is why a degaussed hard drive never spins up again. On magnetic media it is a NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 Purge technique, protecting against laboratory recovery, and on the NSA's list of methods it is the required first step before a classified hard drive is deformed.
It works only on magnetic media. Solid-state drives, flash cards, phones, and the solid-state cache on a hybrid drive's circuit board are untouched by any magnetic field; those go to the disintegrator. And heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) drives, whose media has a coercivity far beyond any listed degausser, cannot be degaussed at all; the NSA's February 2026 manual allows only incineration for classified HAMR drives.
The machine
The Data Security, Inc. LM-1 has been on the NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List for magnetic degaussers and built in Lincoln, Nebraska since the company started making degaussers in 1985. It is a conveyor belt: the drive or cartridge goes in one side and comes out the other sanitized, up to 1,300 an hour, with a permanent magnet that needs no warm-up or charge cycle. It is rated to erase hard disk media at 5,000 oersteds and tape at 3,000, which covers every conventional drive and LTO cartridge in service. Per the NSA manual we test it before each session, because a permanent-magnet degausser can lose strength from hard impact or heat.
When degaussing alone is the right call
Most clients want the drive destroyed as well, and on the truck the shredder is the next machine on the line. Degauss-only makes sense when a program calls for magnetic media to be purged before it leaves your control and the physical destruction happens elsewhere, or when a large tape library is being retired and the cartridges will be shredded in bulk afterward. Either way the certificate records the degaussing as a NIST Purge with the machine named, and the drive is unusable from that moment.
Degauss, then deform
NSA/CSS 9-12, reissued February 19, 2026, is explicit: after degaussing, a classified hard drive must be physically damaged by deforming the platters, and any hard drive shredder is approved for that step. The manual's own reference sheet says so in one line. On our truck the LM-1 feeds the Allegheny 5HD3 shredder, so the sequence is one motion. How the machines work together.
Where we do it
Anywhere in the lower 48, next-day in our closest metros. Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Erie, Wheeling, Morgantown, and 29 more.
Who uses this
Healthcare, Law enforcement and courts, Defense contractors, Federal, state, and local government, Education, Financial services, Data centers and colocation, Aerospace and defense suppliers.
Other services
Questions
Will a degaussed drive still work?
No. Degaussing erases the servo tracks along with the data, so the drive cannot find its own platters. A degaussed drive is a paperweight, which is the point.
Can you degauss SSDs, phones, or USB sticks?
No. Nothing magnetic is stored on them. Those are disintegrated.
Is degaussing enough for classified hard drives?
Not on its own. The NSA requires degaussing on a listed degausser followed by platter deformation. We do both on the same visit.
Does the LM-1 handle modern high-capacity drives?
Conventional drives, yes; it is rated to 5,000 oersteds. HAMR drives, made from about 2020 on and marked with a Class 1 laser statement, no; nothing degausses them. We check labels at intake and set classified HAMR drives aside for your security officer.
What about tapes?
LTO, DLT, and other cartridges cross the same belt. See tape destruction.