Re: Disk Wiping Utilities

From: Bailey Kong (bailey@tgpsolutions.com)
Date: 03/29/02 

From: "Bailey Kong" <bailey@tgpsolutions.com>
To: "John Daniele" <johnd@tsintel.com>, "Bassam ALHUSSEIN" <bhussein@scs-net.org>
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 21:37:57 -0800

if indeed there is topsecret data on the hard drive, i personally wouldn't
even risk trying to erase the HD, i would simply open it up and throw all of
it in the campfire the next time i go camping or make a special trip. sure
its another $100 for a new HD depending on size, but confidenciality is far
more important

my two cents

Bailey
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Daniele" <johnd@tsintel.com>
To: "Bassam ALHUSSEIN" <bhussein@scs-net.org>
Cc: <SECURITY-BASICS@securityfocus.com>; "Dan Williamson"
<dan.williamson@courts.state.pa.us>
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 11:38 AM
Subject: Re: Disk Wiping Utilities

>
> This topic had been discussed at great length in a previous thread -
> unclassified disk sanitizers; to sum it up, no a simple format will not
> ensure that data cannot be recovered. What is needed is a tool that will
> overwrite every physical sector of a drive with data, from the very start
> to the very, very end. 'dd' will do the job just fine. However, with any
> tool that you use, be careful of BIOS translation errors and verify that
> the last sector of the drive had been wiped using a disk editor,
> preferably with a verification system seperate from the one used to do the
> wipe.
>
> However, since the original person who asked the question works for
> government, depending on the classification of the data he wishes to
> destroy, this may or may not be adequate enough. Drives that house data
> classified as Top Secret are generally destroyed in house.
>
>
> _________________________________________
> John Daniele
> Technical Security & Intelligence
> Toronto, ON
> Voice: (416) 605-2041
> E-mail: johnd@tsintel.com
> Web: http://www.tsintel.com
>
> On Wed, 27 Mar 2002, Bassam ALHUSSEIN wrote:
>
> > I am not sure but I thought that a format then fdisk would do the job
> > ....wouldn't it ???
> > correct me guys ..plz
> >
> > Bisso
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Dan Williamson <dan.williamson@courts.state.pa.us>
> > To: <security-basics@securityfocus.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 12:14 AM
> > Subject: Disk Wiping Utilities
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > I am looking for a good utility to erase all hard drives
> > > in a machine to a DOD standard. I would prefer a
> > > FREE utility as this is a government agency and I try
> > > to keep costs down.
> > >
> > > I have read that Norton Wipeinfo, BCWipe and
> > > several other programs wipe only the known
> > > partitions. I need a tool that will wipe EVERYTHING !
> > >
> > > TIA
> > > Dan
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

Relevant Pages

  • Re: should i reformat hard drive?
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