Media Sanitization Record

Media Sanitization Record template: The record of each item of system media sanitized or destroyed before disposal, release out of organizational control or reuse, with its approval, custody, method, verification and final disposition, plus the sanitization methods by media type, the equipment tests and the outside providers, as SP 800-53 MP-6 requires.

Type	Program stage	Status	Template version	NIST basis
Form or register	Operate	Draft	1.0.0	SP 800-53 release 5.2.0

What it is

The record of each item of system media sanitized or destroyed before disposal, release out of organizational control or reuse, with its approval, custody, method, verification and final disposition, plus the sanitization methods by media type, the equipment tests and the outside providers, as SP 800-53 MP-6 requires.

Controls satisfied

Control	Title
MP-6	Media Sanitization
MP-6(1)	Review, Approve, Track, Document, and Verify
MP-6(2)	Equipment Testing
MP-6(3)	Nondestructive Techniques
MP-4	Media Storage
MP-5	Media Transport
MA-2	Controlled Maintenance
MA-3(3)	Prevent Unauthorized Removal

Downloads

Variant	Ready to adopt	Annotated
All baselines	Word · Markdown	Word · Markdown

The register as a spreadsheet: CSV, with one column per field.

Preview (annotated)

Guidance

Keep one record for each system, or one for the organization if a central team sanitizes media for every system. The register at the end holds one row per item, with the details NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2, Guidelines for Media Sanitization (September 2025, final; as of October 2026), lists for a certificate of sanitization in section 4.6, and the details NIST’s MP-6(1) discussion lists; a tracking application that scans each item’s bar code can hold the same fields. SP 800-88 Rev. 2 notes that sanitization records show only that the recorded items were sanitized: to show that every item was, track media from the time they enter service, which is why the register starts at removal from service and section 5 compares it with the component inventory. The register is also downloadable as a CSV file. Assessors sample retired and replaced components from the inventory and the maintenance log, and ask for each one’s row here.

System or scope	Record owner	Last updated	Updated by
Fill in: system name and identifier, or the organization	Fill in: name and title	Fill in: date	Fill in: name and title

1. How to use this record

• Sanitize Fill in: system media to be sanitized prior to disposal Typical: all digital and non-digital system media, including the storage in workstations, laptops, servers, network devices, mobile devices, printers, copiers and scanners before disposal, using Fill in: sanitization techniques and procedures to be used for sanitization prior to disposal Typical: purge or destroy for digital media, and destruction by shredding or incineration for paper and other hard copy, as the media sanitization procedure sets out following NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 (MP-6a).
• Sanitize Fill in: system media to be sanitized prior to release from organizational control Typical: all digital and non-digital system media, including media returned to a lessor or vendor, exchanged under warranty, or sent off site for repair before release out of organizational control, using Fill in: sanitization techniques and procedures to be used for sanitization prior to release from organizational control Typical: purge, including cryptographic erase where its conditions are met, as the media sanitization procedure sets out following NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2; media that cannot be purged and verified are destroyed, not released (MP-6a).
• Sanitize Fill in: system media to be sanitized prior to release for reuse Typical: all digital system media reissued to another user, system or part of the organization before release for reuse, using Fill in: sanitization techniques and procedures to be used for sanitization prior to release for reuse Typical: clear for reuse within the same system or by users with the same access authorizations, and purge for other reuse, as the media sanitization procedure sets out following NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 (MP-6a).
• Open a row when an item is removed from service, before it is sanitized. Keep the item in a controlled area, and on the media inventory, until its row is closed (MP-4b).
• Get the system owner’s review and approval before the action, after confirming that no records retention requirement or legal hold still applies to the information (MP-6(1), SI-12).
• Choose the method from section 2, by the confidentiality of the information. Keep media that cannot be sanitized by that method, such as a failed drive, and destroy them; never release them (MP-6a, MA-2d).
• Record transport to an outside provider in the “Custody” field, with the courier and tracking number (MP-5).
• After sanitization, verify the result: inspect destruction remnants, or check the tool’s completion status and any errors. Accept the result, or repeat it with a different technique or a stronger method, and record which (MP-6(1)).
• Record the final disposition: reused, returned, recycled or destroyed, with the date (MP-6(1)).
• Keep this record for Fill in: retention period from the organization’s records retention schedule.

Field	What to record
Record ID	A unique ID for the item, also written in the maintenance log or change record that removed it
Item	Manufacturer, model, serial number, and the organization’s asset or property number
Media type	Hard copy, or the kind of storage: hard disk drive, solid state drive, flash media, tape, optical disc, mobile device, or the embedded storage of a printer, copier or network device
Source	The system, component and user it came from, and the files or information it held
Category	The confidentiality impact level of the information on it (optional in SP 800-88 Rev. 2; required here to choose the method)
Reason	Disposal, release out of organizational control (lease return, warranty exchange, off-site repair, donation or sale), or reuse
Reviewed and approved	Who reviewed and approved the action, the date, and that records retention was checked (MP-6(1))
Custody	Where the item was held while waiting, and any transport: who carried it, the courier and tracking number, and the dates (MP-4, MP-5)
Method	Clear, purge or destroy
Technique and tool	For example overwrite, block erase, cryptographic erase, degauss, disintegrate, incinerate or shred, with the tool or equipment and its version
Performed by	Name, title and organization of the person who sanitized it, with the date, time and location
Verification	How the result was verified, by whom (name, title, contact), the date, and whether it was accepted or repeated
Final disposition	Reused (where), returned (to whom), recycled or destroyed, with the date and any provider certificate number

2. Sanitization methods by media type

Guidance

This table is the core of the media sanitization procedure the Media Protection policy requires. SP 800-88 Rev. 2 defines the methods and points to the IEEE 2883 series for the technique that achieves each method on each kind of storage; the device’s manufacturer documents its sanitize commands. Purge is preferred to clear where it is available. Degaussing does not work on flash or solid state storage. Cryptographic erase depends on the conditions in SP 800-88 Rev. 2 section 3.2, so record for each media type whether its encryption meets them.

Media type	Disposal	Release out of organizational control	Reuse	Verification
Fill in: for example laptop and workstation solid state drives	Fill in: for example cryptographic erase or the drive’s sanitize command, then destruction by a provider	Fill in: for example purge by the drive’s sanitize command	Fill in: for example purge, or clear for reuse within the same system	Fill in: for example tool completion status and error report
Fill in: for example server and array hard disk drives	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: verification
Fill in: for example mobile devices	Fill in: for example cryptographic erase through device management, then factory reset	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: verification
Fill in: for example printers, copiers and network devices with storage	Fill in: for example the manufacturer’s sanitize function, or removal and destruction of the storage	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: verification
Fill in: for example backup tapes	Fill in: for example destruction by a provider	Fill in: not released	Fill in: method and technique	Fill in: verification
Fill in: for example cloud storage and virtual disks	Fill in: for example cryptographic erase by destroying customer-managed keys	Fill in: not applicable	Fill in: not applicable	Fill in: for example key destruction record from the key management service
Fill in: for example paper and other hard copy	Fill in: for example cross-cut shredding or incineration	Fill in: not released	Fill in: not applicable	Fill in: for example inspection of the output

3. Sanitization equipment and tests

Guidance

Test each piece of sanitization equipment, and each procedure, on the schedule below; MP-6(2) requires it for High systems, and it is good practice for any system with its own sanitization equipment. A qualified outside party may perform the tests, as NIST’s discussion of MP-6(2) allows. Before connecting a portable storage device to a High system, sanitize it with a nondestructive technique when it is new or its chain of custody cannot be shown (MP-6(3)); record that here as a row of the register with the reason “reuse”.

• Test sanitization equipment Fill in: frequency with which to test sanitization equipment Typical: at least annually, and after the equipment is repaired, relocated or updated, and sanitization procedures Fill in: frequency with which to test sanitization procedures Typical: at least annually, and when a new media type, tool or sanitization provider is introduced, to ensure the intended sanitization is achieved (MP-6(2)).
• Take equipment that fails a test out of use until it passes, and sanitize again the media it processed since its last passing test (MP-6(2)).

Equipment or procedure	Model or version	Location	Test performed	Tested by	Date	Result	Next test
Fill in: for example degausser, shredder, sanitization software, or a procedure from section 2	Fill in: model, serial number or version	Fill in: location	Fill in: for example field strength check, particle size check, read-back of a sample	Fill in: name or provider	Fill in: date	Fill in: pass or fail, and action taken	Fill in: date

4. Sanitization and destruction providers

• An outside provider sanitizes or destroys media only under a contract that sets the method, requires a certificate listing each item by serial number, and allows the organization to witness or verify the work (MP-6a).
• Media travel to the provider protected and tracked as the Media Protection policy requires for transport (MP-5).

Provider	Services and methods	Contract or agreement	On site or off site	Certificate per item	Equipment test results received	Last review
Fill in: provider	Fill in: services and methods	Fill in: reference and end date	Fill in: on site or off site	Fill in: yes or no	Fill in: date of last results	Fill in: date

5. Record reviews

The system owner reviews the register at least quarterly against the component inventory (CM-8) and the maintenance log’s removed and replaced components, so that every item removed from service has a row and every open row is progressing (MP-6(1)).

Review date	Reviewed by	Period covered	Items checked against the inventory and maintenance log	Open rows and missing items	Actions	Next review
Fill in: date	Fill in: name and title	Fill in: dates	Fill in: number	Fill in: items, or “none”	Fill in: actions, or “none”	Fill in: date

Federal systems

Under 32 CFR 2002.14(f), controlled unclassified information (CUI) may be destroyed when the agency no longer needs it and NARA-approved records disposition schedules allow, and must be made unreadable, indecipherable and irrecoverable, by any method specifically required by law, regulation or Government-wide policy for that CUI, or otherwise by the destruction guidance in NIST SP 800-53 and SP 800-88, or a method approved for classified national security information under 32 CFR 2001.47. NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2, section 3.2, states that federal agencies must use encryption modules validated to the current FIPS 140 standard for assurance in cryptographic erase on self-encrypting drives. As of October 2026.

• For each item that held CUI, the register’s “Reviewed and approved” field shall record that the agency no longer needs the information and the records disposition schedule that allows its destruction, and the “Method” field shall name the 32 CFR 2002.14(f)(2) basis for the method used. (MP-6(1))
• Where cryptographic erase is the technique, the “Technique and tool” field shall record the FIPS 140 validation of the encryption module. (MP-6b)

Register

Record ID	Item	Media type	Source	Category	Reason	Reviewed and approved	Custody	Method	Technique and tool	Performed by	Verification	Final disposition
Fill in: ID	Fill in: manufacturer, model, serial number, asset number	Fill in: media type	Fill in: system, component, user, information held	Fill in: low, moderate or high	Fill in: disposal, release or reuse, and why	Fill in: name, date, retention checked	Fill in: where held, transport and tracking	Fill in: clear, purge or destroy	Fill in: technique, tool and version	Fill in: name, title, organization, date, time, location	Fill in: method, by whom, date, accepted or repeated	Fill in: outcome, date, certificate number