CertifiedNIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 · DoD 5220.22-M · IEEE 2883
CSEC ITSG-06 — Canadian Electronic Data Storage Sanitization
CSEC ITSG-06, formally known as Clearing and Declassifying Electronic Data Storage Devices, was a Canadian Communications Security Establishment (CSE/CSEC) publication addressing the clearing, sanitization and declassification of electronic data storage devices.
ITSG-06 is historically important in Canadian media sanitization and is referenced within Canadian security-control documentation. However, it has been superseded by ITSP.40.006 v2 — IT Media Sanitization, which took effect on July 7, 2017.
For organizations that specifically require the historical CSEC ITSG-06 methodology, Data Sanitization Pro (DSP) provides a dedicated CSEC ITSG-06 Sanitization Method through the DSP Sanitization Engine, with controlled execution, verification and audit-ready documentation.
Important: ITSG-06 should be presented as a historical/superseded Canadian sanitization publication, not as the current Government of Canada media-sanitization standard.
ITSG-06 — Clearing and Declassifying Electronic Data Storage Devices provided Canadian guidance for removing residual information from electronic storage devices before reuse, release or disposal.
Its central objective was to prevent sensitive information remaining on storage media from being recovered after the media left organizational control.
The guidance addressed concepts including:
ITSG-06 was therefore broader than a simple disk-wiping algorithm.
A key characteristic of the historical ITSG-06 approach was that sanitization decisions were related to:
rather than simply selecting one universal overwrite pattern.
The Canadian guidance distinguished broad sensitivity levels such as:
and considered the deliberate threat level associated with the media when determining an appropriate clearing, sanitization or destruction process.
This risk-based approach is one of the important characteristics to preserve when representing ITSG-06 on a professional data-sanitization website.
ITSG-06 distinguishes between different levels of media treatment.
Clearing is intended to remove information using logical techniques while leaving the media potentially reusable.
Examples can include:
Sanitization uses validated techniques intended to prevent recovery of information according to the applicable security requirement.
Depending on the storage technology, techniques can include:
Where effective sanitization cannot be achieved or verified, physical destruction may be required.
This distinction remains highly relevant to modern storage because not every device can be reliably sanitized through conventional software overwriting.
DSP provides a dedicated CSEC ITSG-06 Sanitization Method through the DSP Sanitization Engine.
IDENTIFY Identify the storage device.
CLASSIFY Determine media type and relevant storage characteristics.
ASSESS Evaluate sensitivity requirements, device condition and sanitization capability.
SELECT Select the CSEC ITSG-06 method.
EXECUTE Execute the applicable sanitization operation.
VERIFY Verify the completed operation.
VALIDATE Determine whether the resulting condition satisfies the applicable requirement.
DOCUMENT Record device, method, operator and verification information.
CERTIFY Generate an audit-ready sanitization certificate.
Traditional magnetic HDDs are one of the principal storage technologies addressed by historical Canadian sanitization guidance.
DSP can identify and document:
For an HDD capable of being reliably addressed and sanitized, an applicable logical sanitization method can be executed and verified.
The actual technique should be selected according to the applicable security requirement rather than assuming that one overwrite profile is appropriate for every situation.
Modern flash storage creates substantially different sanitization challenges.
Examples include:
Flash-based devices may contain:
Because of these characteristics, conventional host-level overwriting cannot automatically be assumed to sanitize every physical storage location.
Historical ITSG-06 guidance recognized the difficulty of sanitizing modern flash and solid-state technologies. The later ITSP.40.006 guidance explicitly addresses SSD and flash sanitization and provides technology-specific considerations.
Canadian media-sanitization guidance recognizes techniques beyond conventional overwriting.
Device-native secure erase capabilities can be used where supported and appropriately validated.
For encrypted media, destroying or securely erasing the cryptographic key can make the encrypted data inaccessible.
Current Canadian guidance specifically recognizes Crypto Erase (CE) and notes that encryption throughout the media lifecycle can facilitate faster and more effective sanitization.
DSP can document the selected sanitization technique and its result rather than treating all devices as conventional overwrite targets.
A major characteristic of the Canadian approach is that sanitization is linked to the sensitivity of the information.
Historical Canadian guidance allowed approaches such as logical clearing/overwriting for appropriate media, with consideration of reuse and residual-data risk.
For medium-sensitive media, including certain Protected B or Confidential information, the guidance provides for stronger sanitization measures such as:
Where an acceptable sanitization method cannot be satisfactorily verified, destruction may be required.
Higher-sensitivity media can require sanitization followed by destruction depending on the applicable requirements and storage technology.
This illustrates why ITSG-06 should not be reduced to a single fixed pass count.
Verification is a central component of professional media sanitization.
DSP records the outcome of the selected operation, including where applicable:
The purpose is to establish whether the intended sanitization operation actually completed successfully.
Canadian security-control guidance also emphasizes reviewing, approving, tracking, documenting and verifying media sanitization and disposal actions.
A storage device with inaccessible or damaged areas presents a significant sanitization problem.
DSP can detect and report:
If a device cannot be successfully sanitized and verified, the organization should follow its applicable media-disposition procedure, which may require physical destruction.
Current Canadian guidance specifically recognizes destruction for media that cannot be effectively sanitized.
Declassification is an important concept within the historical Canadian framework.
The objective is not simply to make files disappear from the operating system.
The objective is to process the storage media so that the information previously contained on it no longer presents the applicable information-security risk, allowing the media to be reused, released or disposed of according to organizational controls.
This makes ITSG-06 particularly relevant to:
ITSG-06 addressed electronic storage beyond conventional internal HDDs.
Storage-bearing equipment can include:
Current Canadian guidance similarly recognizes that media can exist within devices such as smartphones, tablets, printers, routers, cameras and other equipment.
A factory reset should not automatically be treated as equivalent to professional media sanitization.
The effectiveness of a reset depends on:
Current Canadian guidance distinguishes ordinary device reset from more robust sanitization techniques and recognizes multiple sanitization approaches depending on the device.
One of the most important principles of professional media sanitization is:
If the required sanitization cannot be reliably achieved and verified, the media may need to be destroyed.
This is particularly relevant to:
Current Canadian guidance provides destruction options including crushing, shredding and disintegration for applicable situations.
| Area | CSEC ITSG-06 | ITSP.40.006 V2 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Superseded | Current Canadian guidance |
| Issuing Organization | CSE/CSEC | CSE |
| Primary Focus | Clearing & declassification | IT media sanitization |
| Risk-Based Approach | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Media-Specific Considerations | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Overwriting | Supported | Supported |
| Secure Erase | Addressed | Addressed |
| Cryptographic Erase | Addressed | Expanded/current guidance |
| SSD/Flash | Addressed | More developed current guidance |
| Destruction | Included | Included |
| Current Use | Historical / legacy requirement | Current federal guidance |
ITSP.40.006 v2 explicitly states that it supersedes ITSG-06.
These two Canadian references should not be treated as identical.
| Area | CSEC ITSG-06 | RCMP TSSIT OPS-II |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Canadian CSE security guidance | Historical RCMP sanitization methodology |
| Primary Concept | Clearing, sanitization & declassification | Multi-pass overwrite |
| Risk-Based | ✓ Yes | More method-specific |
| Fixed Pass Sequence | Not defining characteristic | Commonly represented as 7-pass |
| Storage Technology | Multiple technologies | Historically associated with magnetic media |
| Secure Erase / CE | Addressed | Not the defining method |
| Destruction | Considered | Separate disposition consideration |
| Current Status | Superseded | Historical |
The distinction is useful for organizations that maintain legacy Canadian sanitization profiles.
Both emphasize technology-aware media sanitization, but they are separate frameworks.
| Area | CSEC ITSG-06 | NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Canada | United States |
| Organization | CSE/CSEC | NIST |
| Status | Superseded | Current |
| Main Concept | Clearing & declassification | Media sanitization program |
| Risk-Based | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Media-Specific | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Cryptographic Erase | Addressed | Addressed |
| Destruction | Included | Included |
| Current Canadian Reference | No | No |
For current Canadian federal requirements, ITSP.40.006 v2 should be consulted rather than relying on ITSG-06 alone.
Historical Canadian sanitization requirements can remain relevant when an organization, contract or legacy procedure specifically calls for ITSG-06.
DSP can support controlled ITAD workflows involving:
Each device can retain its own:
This provides individual traceability throughout the sanitization process.
DSP supports controlled offline operation for environments where storage devices must be processed without Internet access.
Potential environments include:
The sanitization process can be executed locally while maintaining device and operation records.
Professional ITAD and enterprise environments may require simultaneous processing of multiple devices.
DSP can maintain device-level records for each target:
Storage Device → ITSG-06 Method → Sanitization Progress → Verification → Result → Certificate
This provides traceability without combining separate devices into an ambiguous batch-level result.
DSP can generate an audit-ready sanitization certificate documenting the actual operation performed by the DSP Sanitization Engine.
The certificate documents the operation performed by DSP. It is not a certificate issued by CSE/CSEC or the Government of Canada.
The DSP implementation provides a structured workflow around the historical Canadian methodology:
IDENTIFY Identify the storage device.
CLASSIFY Determine storage technology and device characteristics.
ASSESS Assess media condition, sensitivity requirements and applicable sanitization capability.
SELECT Select CSEC ITSG-06.
EXECUTE Perform the configured sanitization operation.
VERIFY Check the resulting operation.
VALIDATE Determine whether the result meets the applicable requirement.
DOCUMENT Record all relevant device and sanitization information.
CERTIFY Generate the audit-ready certificate.
A dedicated ITSG-06 method is useful when an organization's:
specifically references CSEC ITSG-06.
DSP provides a controlled method selection rather than forcing users to recreate the historical workflow through a generic disk-wipe option.
ITSG-06 remains useful as a historical Canadian reference, but modern storage environments require more than traditional overwriting.
A professional sanitization decision should consider:
Current CSE guidance continues this technology-aware approach through ITSP.40.006 v2.
CSEC ITSG-06 represents an important historical Canadian approach to clearing and declassifying electronic data storage devices.
DSP preserves the methodology as a dedicated, documented sanitization method for organizations that specifically require ITSG-06 while adding modern device identification, monitoring, verification and audit reporting.
CSEC ITSG-06 Canadian Electronic Data Storage Sanitization Executed through the DSP Sanitization Engine Verified and Documented with an Audit-Ready Sanitization Certificate
ITSG-06 was a Canadian CSE publication titled **Clearing and Declassifying Electronic Data Storage Devices**, providing guidance for clearing, sanitizing and declassifying electronic storage media.
No. CSE's **ITSP.40.006 v2 — IT Media Sanitization** explicitly supersedes ITSG-06.
No. ITSG-06 is broader than a fixed overwrite algorithm. Its approach considers data sensitivity, threat level, media type and appropriate sanitization or destruction techniques.
Yes, historical Canadian guidance addressed solid-state and flash storage, but modern SSD/NVMe sanitization requires consideration of controller-managed storage, spare areas and the ability to verify sanitization. Current ITSP.40.006 provides the applicable updated Canadian guidance.
DSP can generate an audit-ready certificate documenting the ITSG-06 operation performed by the DSP Sanitization Engine. It is **not a CSE/CSEC-issued certificate**.
Yes, where an organization's documented procedure or contractual requirement specifically calls for the historical methodology. For current Canadian federal requirements organizations should use the current applicable CSE guidance.
The applicable security and disposition policy should determine the next step. Canadian guidance recognizes physical destruction where effective sanitization cannot be achieved or verified.
Data Sanitization Pro runs all 25 standards offline and verifies the result.
