Active@ KillDisk vs CBL Data Shredder

Active@ KillDisk permanently erases data from HDDs, SSDs, NVMe disks, USB drives and other storage media. It is available for Windows, Linux and macOS, with bootable media for Windows PE, Linux and console environments. The product lists more than 25 sanitization standards, including NIST 800-88 and DoD 5220.22-M. The freeware edition uses only the One Pass Zeros method, allows two parallel erases and lacks batch scripting and post-erase verification. Paid editions list erase verification, resuming interrupted erases, PDF certificates and XML reports; professional editions also list batch scripting that can run without user interaction. Some editions include low-level ATA Secure Erase for SSDs. The comparison also lists remote monitoring and HTTP process control through a Web Service, plus export of operation journals to external databases. Personal Professional costs $64.95, paid once; Personal Suite costs $79.95, paid once. Commercial and site licenses have separate listed prices. The maker describes the tool for home users, businesses, IT departments, recyclers, refurbishers, government and healthcare organizations, among others.

CBL Data Shredder is a free utility for erasing hard-drive contents so existing and future software-based recovery tools cannot retrieve them. It overwrites the entire disk with bit patterns, with methods using different numbers of passes. Users can choose a pattern and pass count; the default is one pass of “00”. The program implements a described US Department of Defense 5220.22-M method using three passes with different patterns, and also lists VSITR, Bruce Schneier, Peter Gutmann, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police DSX methods. Its Peter Gutmann implementation makes 35 passes. The Windows version functions exclusively on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10. DOS packages are available as a floppy disk maker, a bootable CD-ROM ISO, and a USB flash drive creator; the USB creator requires Windows 7 or later. The free download requires submitting a name and email address, and downloading means agreeing to the licensing conditions. The product warns that modern-drive features may leave some areas inaccessible to the software and vulnerable to hardware-based recovery. Its DSX method alone is not approved for sanitizing classified information, and current standards require physical destruction afterward.