Which of the following is NOT listed as a method of destroying digital evidence?

• A. Degaussing
• B. Physical Shredding
• C. Data Encryption
• D. Overwriting

Answer: (C)

Destroying digital evidence requires making the data unrecoverable or removing the media itself. Degaussing, physical shredding, and overwriting are all established ways to achieve that: degaussing wipes the data by erasing magnetic fields on compatible media, physical shredding destroys the hardware so the data can’t be recovered, and overwriting replaces the original data with new content so the old data is no longer accessible.

Data encryption, on the other hand, does not destroy data. It simply converts plaintext into ciphertext, making it unreadable without the key. The encrypted data still resides on the device and could be decrypted if the key is obtained or cracked, so encryption does not erase or physically remove the evidence. That’s why data encryption is the correct choice for NOT being listed as a method of destroying digital evidence.