Editing Data remanence (section)

===Media destruction===
[[File:Destroyed Hard Drive.jpg|thumb|250px|The pieces of a physically destroyed hard disk drive.]]
[[File:Hard drive destroyed using a data destroying device.jpg|thumb|Hard drive mechanically broken by a data destroying device (after degaussing)]]
Thorough destruction of the underlying storage media is the most certain way to counter data remanence. However, the process is generally time-consuming, cumbersome, and may require extremely thorough methods, as even a small fragment of the media may contain large amounts of data.

Specific destruction techniques include:

* [[Physical change|Physically breaking]] the media apart (e.g., by grinding or shredding)
* [[Chemical change|Chemically altering]] the media into a non-readable, non-reverse-constructible state (e.g., through [[incineration]] or exposure to [[causticity|caustic]]/[[corrosive]] chemicals) 
* [[Phase transition]] (e.g., liquefaction or vaporization of a solid disk)
* For magnetic media, raising its temperature above the [[Curie point]]
* For many electric/electronic volatile and non-volatile storage media, exposure to electromagnetic fields greatly exceeding safe operational specifications (e.g., high-[[voltage]] electric current or high-amplitude [[microwave]] or [[Ionizing radiation|ionizing]] radiation){{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}