Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Sex, Lies and Hard-Drives

  1. #1
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,283
    Thanks
    293
    Thanked
    841 times in 476 posts

    Sex, Lies and Hard-Drives

    Disklabs' Simon Steggles shares with HEXUS an interesting tale of old hard drives giving up a lot of, potentially costly, secrets.
    http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...lld19JRD0xNjE0
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  2. #2
    Richard Allen Evans mr_anderson187's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Norfolk 'n chance
    Posts
    2,133
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Interesting read

    need to wipe my data, or someone will get my coursework lol
    Under Development...

  3. #3
    Slightly Trigger Happy
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    In front of a computer
    Posts
    366
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mr_anderson187
    Interesting read

    need to wipe my data, or someone will get my coursework lol
    i think we all know what coursework that'll be. I allready wipe all the data or physically destroy the drive.
    your computer is similar to a fridge in that if it cannot keep a beer cold then it sucks

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,069
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked
    7 times in 3 posts
    index.dat
    Twigman

  5. #5
    Amateur photographer Hans Voralberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Birmingham
    Posts
    1,889
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    11 times in 11 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by unrealuniverse
    i think we all know what coursework that'll be. I allready wipe all the data or physically destroy the drive.
    Phisically destroyed ??? Sounds like your coursework is a top secret stuff
    Primary kit:
    Fuji S5 Pro - Nikkor AF 50/1.8 - Nikkor AF 85/1.8
    Epson RD-1

    Film Kit:
    Leica M3 - Summicron 50/2 DR - Zeiss ZM 25/2.8 - M-Rokkor 40/2

    Olympus OM2n - Zuiko 50/2 Macro - Zuiko 50/1.4 - Zuiko 35/2.8

  6. #6
    I shall never tire... BEANFro Elite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Surrey
    Posts
    1,596
    Thanks
    122
    Thanked
    31 times in 19 posts
    • BEANFro Elite's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus MAXIMUS IV EXTREME Rev.3.0
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core i7 2600K Sandy Bridge
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Memory Vengeance 8GB DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 240Gb RevoDrive 3 X2, 1x 1TB Maxter DiamondMax 11
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire ATi HD5970 3GB
      • PSU:
      • Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 1000W Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermater Cosmos Pure Black
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2209WA
      • Internet:
      • TalkTalk
    Come on chaps don't appear so shocked its not like we never knew that.

    I've read a few other articles about card fraud due to the previous owners of hard drives not securely wiping their data...if you ask me, the people who don't wipe their hard drives well they deserve everything they get for being so careless...

  7. #7
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blackpool
    Posts
    983
    Thanks
    15
    Thanked
    38 times in 20 posts
    Who appeared shocked in any of them replies?

  8. #8
    Senior Member chrestomanci's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    1,614
    Thanks
    94
    Thanked
    96 times in 80 posts
    • chrestomanci's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus AMD AM4 Ryzen PRIME B350M
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 1600 @ stock clocks
      • Memory:
      • 16Gb DDR4 2666MHz
      • Storage:
      • 250Gb Samsung 960 Evo M.2 + 3Tb Western Digital Red
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Basic AMD GPU (OSS linux drivers)
      • PSU:
      • Novatech 500W
      • Case:
      • Silverstone Sugo SG02
      • Operating System:
      • Linux - Latest Xubuntu
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ 24" LCD (Thanks: DDY)
      • Internet:
      • Zen FTTC

    Just use knoppix to fill the hard disc with random data.

    If you want your data wiped properly, use an expert, (Disklabs, 1st Computer Traders Ltd or PC Association member).
    Rubish. It is easy to do yourself, so long as you have a clue:
    1. Boot from a knoppix disc
    2. Open a command console as root.
    3. dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda
    4. mkfs.vfat /dev/hda

    Filling the disc with random will take about an hour, or more for larger discs. If you are paranoid you can do step 3 several times. If you have more than one physical drive, repeat step 3 for hdb, hdc etc, replacing hda with sda etc if you have scsi drives. I would defy anyone short of the NSA to recover anything usefull from a disc that has been subjected to that treatment.

  9. #9
    Gordy Gordy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,805
    Thanks
    63
    Thanked
    72 times in 50 posts
    nice tips that

  10. #10
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    /dev/urandom
    Posts
    17,074
    Thanks
    228
    Thanked
    1,027 times in 678 posts
    • directhex's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 64GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Seagate Firecuda 520
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra
      • PSU:
      • EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G3
      • Case:
      • NZXT H210i
      • Operating System:
      • Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 34GN850
      • Internet:
      • FIOS
    use GNU shred -
    Code:
    shred -v -z -n3 /dev/harddiskdevice
    alter n if you want to be sure. remove -z if you don't want to follow the random treatment with zero-filling

  11. #11
    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Looking down & checking on swearing
    Posts
    19,378
    Thanks
    2,892
    Thanked
    3,403 times in 2,693 posts
    Useful reminder though...

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    13
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Yes it is easy to wipe data yourself, BUT you need to know 100% what you're doing. Especially if your data may be sensitive or you don't want it falling in to the wrong hands.



    If you don't understand Linux it can be pretty easy to stuff it up or not wipe the disk properly. I've seen cases where "experienced" and "knowledgeable" IT *Managers* have screwed up the wiping of old workstations and gave them away still containing sensitive corporate documents and email, even with bootable operating systems with recoverable and crackable admin passwords on the disk - just because they were told it was easy and tried it themselves.



    There are much simpler DIY methods of wiping than using a Knoppix (Bootable Linux CD) disk. DBAN, dban.sourceforge.net, is another free one which also does a good job. It depends upon your disk / computer speed but it would take 1-2 hours to do a simple DIY wiping pass on an average workstation.



    If you really want your data wiped properly and securely you need to also verify the wiping i.e. by writing 00h across the disk on the last pass and then searching the disk to make sure that nothing other 00h appears on the disk.



    Professional data wiping companies will perform all the required steps using documented industry standard secure procedures and produce a report and a certificate of data destruction for each workstation/hard disk. You can even have the hard disk physically destroyed afterwards for the uber paranoid.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Building A Gaming Rig - A Living Document. (A HEXUS Project)
    By Stewart in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 188
    Last Post: 06-09-2008, 04:19 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •