What's new
What's new

Data security when disposing of a computer

Oldwrench

Titanium
Joined
May 21, 2009
Location
Wyoming, USA
There is a fairly inexpensive program called Winclear which will overwrite anything you delete using a "random" pattern and however many passes you choose...or are willing to wait for. I think that's great for a computer connected to the Internet and subject to constant and massive accumulation of nuisance data, but does it really ensure that nobody can retrieve your design or financial information?

Drive, he said.jpg
Call me paranoid but this method guarantees the electrons go to data heaven. And if you're a misanthrope like Oldwrench it makes you smile in the bargain...
 
Winclear ??

How about slow roasting the HDD in a wood or charcoal fire for a couple hours?
Would not that "doo the trick" ?

If thats too slow and awkward, a cutting torch would work only faster.
I'm pretty sure if the platters vaporized, nobody's gonna be doing any data recovery on it.

Way less effort than cutting it in pieces........only to have a black helicopter swoop down, scoop it up,
and piece it back together in a CIA crime lab!

:eek::willy_nilly::ack2:
 
Winclear ??

How about slow roasting the HDD in a wood or charcoal fire for a couple hours?
Would not that "doo the trick" ?

If thats too slow and awkward, a cutting torch would work only faster.
I'm pretty sure if the platters vaporized, nobody's gonna be doing any data recovery on it.


If you're going to destroy the drive, just open it up and at the very least pull the magnets out. They work amazingly on the fridge!
 
Disclaimer: I'm rather out of date with such things, as in no professional or academic exposure for nearly 10 years



Still I think the concepts haven't changed.

For dealing with massive accumulation of nuisance data:
FORMAT hard drive and re-install.
The extra step you mention won't help at all.


As for making sure no-body can get your information off the drive after you get rid of it, this is the best solution short of doing this then physically destroying the storage.

After a format, if somebody knows what they are doing and put the effort in they can find your data again.
Even in the case something physically fails in an HDD the disks can be removed and data retrieved... Though its expensive to get this done.



At the end of the day computers are still binary, so if you remove the pattern of 1s and 0s then the information is gone even if its still full of electrons.
 
This is why there exist shooting ranges with lax rules about targets.

The platters would make for good reusable pigeons! Tell ya what, all you guys that want to destroy drives give them to me so I can sell the parts off as something they aren't.
 
View attachment 92495
Call me paranoid but this method guarantees the electrons go to data heaven. And if you're a misanthrope like Oldwrench it makes you smile in the bargain...

I'm told that forensic computer scientists can still recover from that condition. But the info needs to be pretty important to be worth the effort( Like for federal felony charges, etc.) Personally I like hammers and fire. In either order, in abundance, applied enthusiastically. Or even better, not being interesting to anyone, if that's possible. ;)
 
Those among us who have had to recover data after such amateurish attempts to deny it smile much broader grins, yet.

I was smiling not because it was an elegant solution but because wrecking the drive itself with ancient, dirt-simple technology struck an atavistic chord in my nature. Also it makes a satisfying sound. Think Killer Whale meets Baby Seal. Or Bambi meets Godzilla. Oh, sure, I quite understand that an unscathed area of the disk is recoverable, but if I had chopped it up any more it wouldn't have made a recognizable picture. There are plenty more technically effective ways of obliterating the data. A crosscut shredder, thence to the burn bag. A few minutes in a microwave is said to execute the assignment spectacularly although I have never seen it. A large rosebud torch...superglue and some Pink Panther insulation...a sandblasting cabinet...pancake skillet...c'mon, how 'bout a challenge! Everybody send your examples to Thermite.
 
Call me paranoid but this method guarantees the electrons go to data heaven. And if you're a misanthrope like Oldwrench it makes you smile in the bargain...

Overwritting can be "read through" with enough effort.
Drilling holes leaves too much of the platter intact. Same with saws and hammers.
Nothing solves this paranoia quite like a few sets from the old double barrel 12 gauge,........ and it's fun too.
Here honey, toss this in the air for me.
Bob
 
I have used the 'wale the tar out of it with a sledge hammer' technique. It's satisfying but not very efficient or effective. The radial arm drill has also been used on medium level data.

My best solution, for some disks that had classified SSN data on them was (with witnesses), to take them apart and remove the surface from the platters on a belt linisher. It's quite hard to recover the data when it's few spoons full of microscopic dust in a dust bag.:cool:
 
I was hoping this silly thread would draw some real creative/destructive comments. Reading everyone's contributions has been a rewarding experience. Thank you.
 








 
Back
Top