NIST SP 800-88 Rev 2 4.3.1: Plan sanitization from the system security plan onward: choose ISM with sanitization in mind, obtain Statements of Volatility and the Appendix B characteristics, identify every ISM inside each item, combine techniques such as CE before shipment, and dispose without sanitization only where disclosure would cause no harm

What does 4.3.1 require?

The need for and methods of sanitization are identified and developed before the disposal stage: controls for ISM sanitization are designed, written down and put in place at the time the first system security plan is drawn up. Choosing which ISM a system will use is largely a business decision, but system owners understand that it determines the sanitization resources needed across the whole life cycle. Vendors can be asked for a Statement of Volatility listing the memory components, the data they hold, user accessibility and how they are erased, which supports purchasing decisions, though statements differ between vendors; the Appendix B characteristics drive the questions to ask. Care is taken in identifying ISM because one item (a desktop, a mobile device) contains several media types needing different methods. Rapid techniques such as CE can be combined with others, for instance CE at the desk before the ISM goes to a sanitization facility. When an ISM is repurposed or reaches end of life the organisation executes the life cycle sanitization decision; disposal without sanitization is considered only if disclosure would have no impact on mission, cause no damage to assets and no financial loss or harm to any individual, as with unopened mass-produced software media.