Re: A Little Help With Disk Cleaning/security

From: Moe Trin (ibuprofin_at_painkiller.example.tld)
Date: 09/08/05 

Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:03:38 -0500

In the Usenet newsgroup alt.computer.security, in article
<9gGTe.3$%f2.1@trnddc09>, David H. Lipman wrote:

>From: "Slick32" <Slick32@Someware.Com>

>| Some time ago, Norton had a routine that would wipe the unused portion of
>| your hard drive to government standards (those areas that are not occupied
>| by current valid files).

Norton "Wipefile" and Wipedisk" part of the old Norton Utilities from the
1980s and 1990s. They were replaced by "Wipeinfo" - a GUI version. There
were other programs from other suppliers that did similar/identical function.

>I don't know of a Gov't. specification to "...wipe the unused portion of
>your hard drive ..."

Advertising copy. The two Norton applications above had a /G option:

   The /G switch performs wiping to match certain government specifi-
   cations, such as DOD 5220.22-M. In this mode, WIPEFILE wipes data
   three times with three different values (binary 1s, 0s, and the standard
   or /V wiping value). After the third wipe, the data is read-checked.

That's out of the "Norton Utilities Version 4.0 / Advanced Edition" user
manual from 1987. "WIPEDISK" had an identical option. The default wipe
value used for the third pass was a zero. "WIPEINFO" was similar, but I
think it wiped four times (0xFF, 0x00, 0x00, 0xF6), rather than three.
Most people today prefer that the last wipe be random data. Note also
that this only claimed to _match_ the government requirements, not that
the application was approved by the government for this task.

DoD 5220.22-M has been updated several times since then (current version
is a huge PDF, dated January 1995, easily located by googling for the
keyword '5220.22-M'). Chapter 8 Subsection 306 deals with the Cleaning and
Sanitization of Magnetic Disks. However, it actually applies to the
entire disk, rather than "unused" portions. The requirements pertain
to the cleaning/sanitizing of disks that contained up to US Secret data,
and required degaussing, or destruction of the drive, or a 3 pass wipe.
To my knowledge, 5220.22-M has never dealt with just files or unused space
because there is no reliable method of doing so ("reliable" meaning that
it satisfies the spooks). Modern disk-caching may negate the effect of
repeated wipe attempts as one example.

Note that if 5220.22-M applies to you, SEE YOUR GOVERNMENT DESIGNATED
SECURITY OFFICER before you casually wipe secure data, as there probably
is certain reporting procedures required - read that as "lottsa paperwork"!

        Old guy

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A Little Help With Disk Cleaning/security
    ... | Norton "Wipefile" and Wipedisk" part of the old Norton Utilities from the ... | cations, such as DOD 5220.22-M. ... After the third wipe, the data is read-checked. ... | Sanitization of Magnetic Disks. ...
    (alt.computer.security)
  • Re: RE: Peter Gutmann data deletion theaory?
    ... >> drives as our security people deemed it inadequate, ... There is no 7 pass government wipe. ... If any government can recover data via some ...
    (Bugtraq)
  • Re: hal still doesnt understand basic Bernoulli Trial (was: Re: Xiaou? [taptap] Is this thing on?)
    ... it's one thing to insist on the government leaving people ... the government as full-spectrum purveyor of vice. ... PS As for the government being unable to wipe out illegal gambling, ...
    (rec.martial-arts)
  • Re: Economics in SF
    ...  Before that government simpy didn't perform the ... outnumbered or some technological advantage. ... But...new weapons were invented before agriculture. ... agriculture, to say nothing of the infectious diseases, to wipe out ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • hey Massachuzzetsians!
    ... from the government when they flood. ... do you expect Big Brother to wipe your ...
    (rec.sport.pro-wrestling)
Quantcast