What does equipment sanitization aim to achieve?

Equipment sanitization primarily aims to make the data on media infeasible to access, ensuring that sensitive information is completely removed or rendered irretrievable. This process is crucial for protecting proprietary data, personal information, and other sensitive materials, particularly when equipment is repurposed, sold, or disposed of. By effectively eliminating data, equipment sanitization mitigates the risks of data breaches and unauthorized access, which is essential for maintaining confidentiality and compliance with various data protection regulations.

Improving equipment performance, enhancing user access control, and reducing equipment costs serve different objectives that are not directly aligned with the primary goal of sanitization. While performance might be a consideration in maintaining hardware, sanitization focuses specifically on secure removal of data rather than performance enhancement. Similarly, access control pertains to user permissions and policies, rather than the eradication of data from the physical hardware itself. Lastly, reducing costs relates to financial management rather than ensuring the secure handling of sensitive information. Therefore, the essence of equipment sanitization is centered on ensuring that data cannot be accessed or recovered, which is precisely captured in the correct answer.