Re: Fast and secure HDD erase?

Robert Wegner wrote:

Hi,

i wonder, is there a faster alternative than to overwrite a HDD n-times,
if i want the data reasonably securely destroyed (without destroying the HDD
itself)?

Yes. A very large magnet. In fact the US military is implementing a
magnetic erase feature for the hard drives in aircraft flight recorders
and such so that downed planes can't reveal useful information. It's
thought to be more thorough and secure than conventional methods.

You'd have to research the ramifications, but if you believe it
wouldn't destroy consumer quality drives you might look for a local
tool or machine shop that has what's called a "demagnetizer". You might
want to remove the drive controller first, I'm not sure how something
like that would affect the electronics. Not as big a project as you'd
think with most drives, just a couple screws and a connector.

If you want to spend the money, several companies make drive degauss
tools. Fujtsu calls theirs "Mag EraSURE", but I'm not sure what it
costs or how secure it is. I'd imagine it's secure enough just to pass
the drive on to an average Joe. Google is your friend, I'd start with
something like 'bulk hard drive erasure'.

.

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