Browse Definitions :
Definition

degauss

WhatIs.com
Contributor(s): Gene Chuah, Oli Ismet Ozkan, and S. Sidun

To degauss is to demagnetize. The term is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician who applied mathematics to the study of geo-magnetism. A gauss is a unit of magnetic flux density equal to 1 maxwell per square centimeter.

Degaussing is a popular technique for destroying data on magnetic storage tapes. By changing the magnetic field on the tape with a box-like device known as a degausser, the data on the tape can effectively be destroyed. This allows reuse of tapes that don't have prewritten tracks. Degaussing can also be used to erase the contents of a hard drive, USB thumb drive, smart phone or floppy disk.

Degaussing is commonly used to improve the picture resolution on electronic displays. Many display manufacturers include an internal coil that will degauss the display when it is turned on. Display monitors and televisions with cathode ray tube (CRT) technology are particularly subject to the buildup of magnetic fields.

This was last updated in October 2009

Continue Reading About degauss

Join the conversation

1 comment

Send me notifications when other members comment.

Register

Please create a username to comment.

A correction should be made to this article. Degaussing is ineffective on USB thumb drives. This is because thumb drives do not utilize a magnetic recording medium, thumb drives are solid state. Thumb drives should be shredded or otherwise damaged beyond use to meet sterilization guidelines.
Cancel

-ADS BY GOOGLE

File Extensions and File Formats

Powered by:

SearchCompliance

  • data governance policy

    A data governance policy is a documented set of guidelines for ensuring that an organization's data and information assets are ...

  • risk management

    Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing and controlling threats to an organization's capital and earnings.

  • compliance as a service (CaaS)

    Compliance as a Service (CaaS) is a cloud service service level agreement (SLA) that specified how a managed service provider (...

SearchSecurity

  • Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

    The Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES, is a symmetric block cipher chosen by the U.S. government to protect classified ...

  • intrusion detection system (IDS)

    An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a system that monitors network traffic for suspicious activity and alerts when such ...

  • Secure Shell (SSH)

    SSH, also known as Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell, is a network protocol that gives users, particularly system ...

SearchHealthIT

SearchDisasterRecovery

SearchStorage

  • cache memory

    Cache memory, also called CPU memory, is high-speed static random access memory (SRAM) that a computer microprocessor can access ...

  • capacity management

    Capacity management is the broad term describing a variety of IT monitoring, administration and planning actions that are taken ...

  • cloud storage

    Cloud storage is a service model in which data is transmitted and stored on remote storage systems, where it is maintained, ...

Close