<html> <head> <style> .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } </style> </head> <body class='hmmessage'> Would using a powerful magnet also work?? :) > From: ehemdal@townisp.com > To: fedora-list@redhat.com > Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 22:58:05 -0400 > Subject: Re: OT: Can Reformatting A Hard Drive To ext3 Destroy All the Data On It? > > > > > Robert L Cochran wrote: > >> I have a hard drive that I need to destroy the data on. What is the most > >> dependable way to do this? Can reformatting the drive as ext3 or ext4 or > >> some other filesystem effectively destroy the existing data? > >> > >> Is there free software that can write zeroes or some form of nonsense to > >> every storage location? > > > > > > Overwriting the disc, even several times, is not enough to guarantee > > that the data _cannot_ be recovered. If you truly need to make the > > data unrecoverable, then a hammer is all that's needed. To be truly > > sure, open the case (also requires a screwdriver or nutdriver), > > and shatter each disc separately. They are usually ceramic these > > days, I think. Anyway, physical destruction is the only real guarantee. > > > > Mike > > Much depends on how "destroyed" your data needs to be. You can certainly > write zeros to a drive > > dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda #or whatever device is your drive > > does the trick. But if you have any special partitions for diagnostics, a > "recovery image", or you just have some space on the drive that can't be > reached then this won't really destroy everything. Some drives have > reserved areas that aren't accessible through normal OS means. > > There are programs like Darik's Boot and Nuke (dban.org) that claim to > destroy data by various means. I don't know if they can clean > manufacturer's reserved areas on the drive. > > If you have very sensitive data, then as Mike posted, shatter the drive. > Break it so that no piece of the disk is larger than one disk sector, > otherwise a piece might have a cleanly recoverable chunk of data on it. > > This link might help: > http://www.stanford.edu/group/security/securecomputing/data_destruction_guidelines.html > > I know that there are a number of commercial services that offer to destroy > disks, recycle what can be recovered, and provide you evidence of "observed > destruction", although I don't have much experience with them. > > Erik > > > -- > fedora-list mailing list > fedora-list@redhat.com > To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list > Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines <hr />Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. <a href='http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_BR_life_in_synch_062009' target='_new'>Check it out.</a></body> </html>