Editing Darik's Boot and Nuke (section)

{{Short description|Data erasure software}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox software
 |name = Darik's Boot and Nuke
 |logo = DBAN-Logo-118x132.png
 |logo size =100px
 |caption =
 |screenshot =Dban11.png
 |screenshot size =250px
 |developer = Darik Horn
 |latest_release_version = 2.3.0
 |latest_release_date = {{release date|2015|06|04}}
 |operating_system = [[Linux]]
 |platform = [[x86]]
 |language = [[English language|English]]
 |genre = [[Data remanence|Secure erase]]
 |license = [[GNU General Public License|GPLv2]]<ref name="GPL">{{Cite web|url = http://www.dban.org/node/63|title = May I rebrand DBAN?|accessdate = 24 January 2012|last = DBAN|date = 18 July 2008}}</ref>
 |website = {{URL|https://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/}}
}}

'''Darik's Boot and Nuke''', also known as '''DBAN''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|iː|b|æ|n}}, is a [[free and open-source software|free and open-source]] project hosted on [[SourceForge]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Deleted but Not Gone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/03/technology/circuits/03basics.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Thomas J. |last=Fitzgerald |accessdate=2009-02-03 |year=2005}} Published on November 3, 2005</ref> The program is designed to securely [[data erasure|erase]] a hard disk until its data is permanently removed and no longer [[data recovery|recoverable]], which is achieved by overwriting the data with [[pseudorandom number generator|pseudorandom numbers]] generated by [[Mersenne Twister]] or [[ISAAC (cipher)|ISAAC]]. The [[Gutmann method]], Quick Erase, DoD Short (3 passes), and [[DOD 5220.22-M]] (7 passes) are also included as options to handle [[data remanence]].
DBAN can be booted from a [[Compact Disc|CD]], [[Digital Versatile Disc|DVD]], [[USB flash drive]] or diskless using a [[Preboot Execution Environment]]. It is based on [[Linux]] and supports [[Parallel ATA|PATA]] (IDE), [[SCSI]] and [[Serial ATA|SATA]] hard drives. DBAN can be configured to automatically wipe every hard disk that it sees on a system or entire network of systems, making it very useful for unattended data destruction scenarios. DBAN exists for [[x86]] systems.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/dban/dban-2.0.0/|title = DBAN version 2.0.0 download|accessdate = 3 November 2012}}</ref>

DBAN, like other methods of [[data erasure]], is suitable for use prior to [[computer recycling]] for personal or commercial situations, such as donating or selling a computer, as well as disposing of hard drives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://analysisandreview.com/systems/preparing-your-computer-for-sell-or-donation/|title=Preparing Your Computer for Sell or Donation|website=analysisandreview.com}}</ref>