NIST 800-88, done right. Every media class.

NIST Special Publication 800-88, 'Guidelines for Media Sanitization', is the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's guidance on sanitizing media before reuse or disposal. It describes the Clear, Purge and Destroy levels. It is the reference most enterprise data-destruction contracts cite.

Rev. 2 was published in September 2025 and restructured the guidance of Rev. 1. Because contracts and audit checklists cite either revision, Orion follows the Clear and Purge guidance of both, and each signed report records the method that was applied.

Clear applies logical techniques, such as overwriting, that protect against simple, non-invasive recovery. Purge applies techniques, such as a drive's own sanitize commands, that make recovery infeasible even with laboratory techniques. Orion chooses the method per media type and lets you select Clear, Purge or one of the other listed methods for your policy.

Overwrite alone is not reliable on flash media because wear-levelling hides physical blocks from the host. For Purge, Orion uses the drive's own sanitize commands, ATA Secure Erase for SATA and NVMe Sanitize or Format for NVMe, where the media supports them. The result is verified by read-back and recorded in the signed report.

Phones and tablets get a factory reset (erase all content and settings) or a full firmware restore, with a verified outcome; on Android, Orion runs an on-device wipe and then a factory reset. Macs are restored through firmware restore (DFU) end to end. Smart TVs of any brand get a factory reset through a relay unit, with a pass, fail or unconfirmed outcome.

Each signed report records the device, the method applied (for example NIST SP 800-88 Clear or Purge, ATA Secure Erase or NVMe Sanitize), the verification result, the operator and the time. A scannable label links the unit to its record, and the full history stays in Stenfox Portal.