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What does Zeroize mean in cybersecurity?this means erasing electronically stored data in a way that it cannot be retrieved.
What is the primary purpose of zeroization in a cryptographic device?
A method of erasing electronically stored data, cryptographic keys, and credentials service providers (CSPs) by altering or deleting the contents of the data storage to prevent recovery of the data. In this Recommendation, an action applied to a key or a piece of secret data.
DEFINITIONS
To remove or eliminate the key from a cryptographic equipment or fill device.
SOURCE: CNSSI-4009
To overwrite a memory location with data consisting entirely of bits with the value zero, so that the data is destroyed and not recoverable. This is often contrasted with deletion methods that merely destroy reference to data within a file system rather than the data itself.
SOURCE: SP 800-63
See NIST DEFINITION
Used In A Sentence:
- “Great work, Eugene… now we’re gonna have to zeroize everything to ensure your little “mistake’ doesn’t cause the breach of the century.”
- “Donna was so furious about her demotion to Purnima’s department, she zeroized all the router configurations in the Mumbai office.”
How does zeroization work?
Zeroization erases all potentially sensitive information in the router memory. This includes the erasure of the main memory, cache memories, and other memories containing packet data, NVRAM, and Flash memory. The Zeroization button on the faceplate is used to invoke zeroization.
