A+ Hardware Support

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:40:30 GMT

Good to know.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Baer — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:18:37 GMT

Ther magnet from an N M R won't do it enough to make it 100% and that will pull a paperclip through the air for five feet. (fun!)

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

PROACEX1 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:51:00 GMT

Unless it is very powerful magnet, not some stupid fridge magnet, it most likely won't work...Most new HDD's are shielded from electromagnetic interference (to an extent)...

So get a very big, powerful magnet should work (Industrial class magnets, or very high-end commercial class magnets), but unless you physically alter the drive, data could still be retrieved...Albiet nothing worthwhile, but it is possible...

Also, if you don't own a 12 Guage shotgun, a sledgehammer works nicely, remember to ware goggles, and to hit the HDD many, many times...

Respectfully,

PROACEX1

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:05:20 GMT

Preaching to the choir here.

I agree with that method is the most secure, I'm just curious about pass overs and putting a high powered magnet to it. We've killed the horse of the first, but what about the magnet?

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Baer — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:53:37 GMT

As long as the peices are small enough. If you just break it into quarters Etc it still can be read. The platers do not have to spin in order to look at the grain structure.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Tracer76 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:37:54 GMT

Actually PROACEX1 is correct that is the real only way to destroy data on a HDD.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:34:52 GMT

Haha.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

PROACEX1 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:07:31 GMT

Personally, I love my (redneck) friend's way of destroying an HDD...12 Gauge shotgun, couple of pumps...

An HDD will never be the same... *grin*

Respectfully,

PROACEX1

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:59:07 GMT

Baer:
Remember that writing data to a HDD not only puts down + and 0 (1's and 0's) but it actually changes how the surface of the drive looks under high magnification using a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope). Just like erasing a letter off a peice of paper, the actual look of the paper is still different. The data can be read by looking at the surface not just by trying to read it off the drive. If you take the platter and actually look at the surface down to the near molecular level it can be read bit by bit. The drive does not have to be connected to anything for this to be done. Tedious? Expensive? yes, but possiable? Absolutly! There is no sure way to be 100% sure that the data can not be retrived by someone who is willing to spend the time and money short of actually physically distroying the platters.

Yeah (for those interested in this subject, read the paper I linked to earlier) but it seems beyond me. Especially if you wiped the drive before you wrote data on it.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Baer — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:49:29 GMT

Remember that writing data to a HDD not only puts down + and 0 (1's and 0's) but it actually changes how the surface of the drive looks under high magnification using a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope). Just like erasing a letter off a peice of paper, the actual look of the paper is still different. The data can be read by looking at the surface not just by trying to read it off the drive. If you take the platter and actually look at the surface down to the near molecular level it can be read bit by bit. The drive does not have to be connected to anything for this to be done. Tedious? Expensive? yes, but possiable? Absolutly! There is no sure way to be 100% sure that the data can not be retrived by someone who is willing to spend the time and money short of actually physically distroying the platters.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Tracer76 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:25:48 GMT

root:
Tracer76:

Yepper I remember hearing about Echelon along time ago. That thing is massive.

Yes they have all the money, LOL lucky bastards, (laughing to self)

That is true for most; it is hard to swallow when alto of individuals think that they have done the job of wiping a HDD on a 35 Guttmann, or at 100 even.

Not only that but people like myself who wipe it regularly. So data isn't at the "bottom" of all the layers but also in between. Just seems to me it's too complex of a problem for even the stubborn.

LOL, the FEDs have the time and the recourses to do this in the labs that they have. It is a very complex problem for a lot of individuals.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:18:53 GMT

Tracer76:
Yepper I remember hearing about Echelon along time ago. That thing is massive.

Yes they have all the money, LOL lucky bastards, (laughing to self)

That is true for most; it is hard to swallow when alto of individuals think that they have done the job of wiping a HDD on a 35 Guttmann, or at 100 even.

Not only that but people like myself who wipe it regularly. So data isn't at the "bottom" of all the layers but also in between. Just seems to me it's too complex of a problem for even the stubborn.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Tracer76 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:09:05 GMT

Yepper I remember hearing about Echelon along time ago. That thing is massive.

Yes they have all the money, LOL lucky bastards, (laughing to self)

That is true for most; it is hard to swallow when alto of individuals think that they have done the job of wiping a HDD on a 35 Guttmann, or at 100 even.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

root — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:52:02 GMT

Can you say ECHELON? haha

Yeah, I understand that they have software/hardware significantly beyond us right now (probably been using quantum computers since late 90's *drools*), but it's still a hard cookie to swallow, given the all the factors of the problem. Especially to someone like me who wipes his usesd drive space with 35 passes each month. Layers upon layers.

Re: Nuking a hard drive???

Tracer76 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:38:37 GMT

Well nothing is really impossible to do on a PC it depends on the hardware and software. The Federal department will have hardware and software that the average person or persons can not get on the market until 5 - 10 years.

Here is one Federal computer every one knows about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_(FBI). How ever there are others out there that we do not know about, to them (The Feds) they do not exist.