> > We've talked in the past about secure data erasure, using things like DBAN > which use wiping algorithms approved by the US DoD. The BBC news website > is > carrying a story today encouraging people to get physical and smash their > drives. Now, whilst I can see that putting a hard disk that has come > straight from a computer on ebay, or one that has been trivially formatted > or had files "erased" is probably a risk, is it really worth getting > people > to attack their hard drives with hammers? (Never mind the Health & Safety > implications!) > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7816446.stm >
Maybe I'm ultra paranoid, but I've always gone for a full wipe.. and then physically smashed up the disk :) I remove and destroy the circuit board, then open the drive up and use a chisel / hammer to physically mangle the drive platters. Getting the correct circuit board, when it has been disposed of separately from the drive, will be hard and with a physically damaged platter you'd need to use some seriously specialist tools to even begin to start getting the data back... and then you'd discover I'd wiped it anyway. I've done this with all my drives for years... nice to see my efforts now confirmed by the BBC as being a "good thing"(tm)! -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------------
