Wiping a Harddrive

Im not talking about simply a re-format, i mean completely erasing everything and making it impossible for any data at all to be recovered.

I've heard magnets are probably the best bet, considering data from a HDD can be recovered if:

• smashed completely
• burnt / partially melted in a fire
• submerged in water for days

Also i know about shredders and various other methods for wiping data, which is relatively effective, depening on how many times data is over written and depending on encyrption techquines.

but software methods take time and arent of any use if the nice police men are knocking on your door.

So im quite intersted in the magnet idea, but after googling theres no specific info i can find other than "use magnets". So perhaps someone could give some insight into this.

How long does it take? How powerful shoudl the magnet be? Would a electromagnet work? Is data still recoverable afterwards?

You cant use a magnet, it takes a hell of a lot of power to wipe a hdd with a magnet. unless you take them out and throw then in a MRI lol. Buring it is propably best. Unless you want to keep the HDD intact then I suggest fill it up several times over like a regular secure eraser.

DoD 5220.22-M recommends the approach "Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify." programs like killdisk do just this…BUT, the DoD standard changes with informations level of classification.

The standard for systems that are property of the DoD, and have secret material, is to run BC wipe 6-7 times…keep in mind the standards are set by the NSA, and it's illegal to use encryption higher than 128 (funny, the NSA can't crack anything higher than 128)….i'd say BC wipe 14 times for a software based sanitation.

Other (faster) methods (Top Secret info), which would be destroy, not sanitize would be Disintegrate, incinerate, pulverize, shred, or melt.

For printers…

Lazer printer - Run five pages of unclassified text, then remove all power, including battery.

Other printers - Destroy ribbons, clean plates, then remove all power, including battery.

Just food for thought…

Mr_Cheese wrote: Im not talking about simply a re-format, i mean completely erasing everything and making it impossible for any data at all to be recovered.

I've heard magnets are probably the best bet, considering data from a HDD can be recovered if:

• smashed completely
• burnt / partially melted in a fire
• submerged in water for days

Also i know about shredders and various other methods for wiping data, which is relatively effective, depening on how many times data is over written and depending on encyrption techquines.

but software methods take time and arent of any use if the nice police men are knocking on your door.

So im quite intersted in the magnet idea, but after googling theres no specific info i can find other than "use magnets". So perhaps someone could give some insight into this.

How long does it take? How powerful shoudl the magnet be? Would a electromagnet work? Is data still recoverable afterwards?

Yes Its possible. an electromagnet with 350 pounds per sqare inch of mangetism can corrupt all of your data on your harddrive. Take it from me, I have had to wipe my harddrive because of viruses or other crap when a reformat wouldnt do. You pretty much have to pass it over 15 times with a 350psi , 400 psi will do it in approx 8. The more powerful- The less times to corrupt it all, and the less data shows up in a scan. Your best bet is throwing it in a lit fireplace or using a really strong magnet. For those who think I do not know what im talking about, Yes I have tried it, and yes its possible.

Hope my information helped Bl4ckC4t

null0bject wrote: DoD 5220.22-M recommends the approach "Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify." programs like killdisk do just this…BUT, the DoD standard changes with informations level of classification.

The standard for systems that are property of the DoD, and have secret material, is to run BC wipe 6-7 times…keep in mind the standards are set by the NSA, and it's illegal to use encryption higher than 128 (funny, the NSA can't crack anything higher than 128)….i'd say BC wipe 14 times for a software based sanitation.

Other (faster) methods (Top Secret info), which would be destroy, not sanitize would be Disintegrate, incinerate, pulverize, shred, or melt.

For printers…

Lazer printer - Run five pages of unclassified text, then remove all power, including battery.

Other printers - Destroy ribbons, clean plates, then remove all power, including battery.

Just food for thought…

Lmao at NSA not being able to crack above 128. Thats funny. Bl4ck.

bl4ckc4t wrote: Take it from me, I have had to wipe my harddrive because of viruses or other crap when a reformat wouldnt do. You pretty much have to pass it over 15 times with a 350psi , 400 psi will do it in approx 8. The more powerful- The less times to corrupt it all, and the less data shows up in a scan.

hmm so your saying the harddrive is still useable after the magetism, and the amout of data you want corrupted depends on how many times you wave the magnet over the HDD??

enlighten me Bl4ck

couldnt you get ahold of a fairly powerful degaussing strip and put it right on the hdd? or possibly a small emp?

Buy youself a cheap blowtorch, and melt the drive, then hide wots left in the cookie jar… nobody looks there… quick and efficient ;)

Mr_Cheese wrote: [quote]bl4ckc4t wrote: Take it from me, I have had to wipe my harddrive because of viruses or other crap when a reformat wouldnt do. You pretty much have to pass it over 15 times with a 350psi , 400 psi will do it in approx 8. The more powerful- The less times to corrupt it all, and the less data shows up in a scan.

hmm so your saying the harddrive is still useable after the magetism, and the amout of data you want corrupted depends on how many times you wave the magnet over the HDD??[/quote]

Another good method is to have a spare cheap (its ok if it doesnt work) harddrive, then when the cops come knocking, replace your normal harddrive with the 2nd one, and hide your original in a really random place (in a folded towel in your bathroom or something). The cops will think the 2nd one is ur only harddrive, and wont bother searching for the real one…

go to x-treme geek and buy the very high power magenets, then stick the thing in your microwave. when that's done, wipe it with the magnets

I find if you have two Sub woofers (12"+ should be good enough) and place one on either side of the hard drive passing the prive between the magnetic field a few time (5-20?) and the information is nearly fully corrupt. now just to let you know a fully corrupt hard drive is still recoverable ;) with the right technology it is all recoverable. Just how much you can get out of it is the main point :P

What i have in my PC is a removable HDD bay i have 2 4 HDD's the II IDE is in the PC that holds my music pics stuff like that, ordianry stuff. Then i ahve one with Linux and 2 with windows. one windows i dont use at all thats it them "people" show up and the other windows and linux i actuly use. And for a precaotion i have a electromag that i swipe over the HDD.

put a password on the harddrive. theyre very hard to get past. almost impossible. then burn it, submerge under water. and take it to your nearest scrap yard for that big magnet crane thingy lol

passwords, the men with the shocking box will come after you and attach it to your balls, then suddenly they find your password very fast >.> not to mention its a 2 year offence if you dont turn over your passes;)

lol, swipe it 50 times with a powerfull magnet, put it in the fireplace, then when its burnt out, under water, then melt it with a blowtorch, then put it between two woofers, then let it take a visit to Mr.Sledge Hammer, and finally throw it at someone. Done ! :D

and once youve done that, take out the platter and clean the platter with steel wool

AdSoRb: then let it take a visit to Mr.Sledge Hammer, and finally throw it at someone. Done ! :D

I like those last points, scientifically proven to wipe data from a hard drive :P

You cant wipe a HDD with magnet, it has a purty strong built in magnet. The strength of a magnet falls cubicly so where at 1inch oyu would have a force of 1 au (arbtiray uniuts) then at 2inches it would be an 1/8th unless you remoove the hdd its very stupid to bother fr more likley to do nothing and ruin your credit cards.

Blackcat where do you intend to get a 350psi magnet to do the job?

From what ive herd from numorous tv programs and articles you cant without damaging it may i suggest a hammer?

How about you get an extension cord cut the end of it off, plug it into the outlet and touch the two wires on one (or all) of the microchips in your HDD… make it so you can never use your computer again

How about you get an extension cord cut the end of it off, plug it into the outlet and touch the two wires on one (or all) of the microchips in your HDD… make it so you can never use your computer again

if the time ever comes i plan to fuck mine out a window. ;) thermite sounds interesting. or napalm would work too.

Take the platters out, wrap them with black cats and let 'em blow :P

Then break into 1,000 pieces with a sludge hammer and flush it down your neighbor's toilet… haha

• k3p7

lol ! for some reason the image of you "fucking it out the window" really made me laugh. i can imagine the words "open up, itsa the FBI" and then you paniking, grabbin your whole PC, and lobbing it out the window :D

[edit] don't ask me why it'd be the FBI in ireland either…. it just wouild ! :)[/edit]

Most likely, they would be out there and see you throwing it out

fine then ill buy an invisible pc. then they couldnt see me through it. or diguise it as a sofa. the FBI also have a italian accent? wtf? since when do they hire super mario as a fed? > itsa the FBI

Haha! That's exactly what I was thinking

Ehhh napalm (the general k3wl homemade type )would probably not work,You would be as well off going with petrol…. I would suggest a theremite charge or possibly even a shaped charge though I am sure that could lead to other questions!

but if you ripped the hdd to shreads. pieces and scraps of wire left…swallow some, flushsome, hide some and leave the rest. How of gods earth are the FBI going to find your guestbook hacks on there ;)

if you think that swiching harddrives and hideing the old one will work, you are retarded. if they are at the door, they most likely have a search warrent, and will check everyware, even if they find the hard drive. havent u seen any movies???? they smash open the walls, rip you couch up, tear the pillows, etc. they will find it. i say if the fbi is at your door, you can kiss your ass goodbye and remember not to drop the soap.

I like dropping the soap ;)

The FBI would'nt look everywhere. Im sure that while they're busy ripping up cushions they'll be too preoccupied to flick through your new Haryy Potter… cough hollowed out cough :D

looking around the room now, if the FBI knocked at my door now (its 4:30am, my mum would be too happy :)) Making a quick decision, I would probably look outside and see if any are out front, if not, I would

fuck it out the window :D.

If that failed, I'd shove it down my pants, act all innocent as they took my stuff away, and "go to the toilet" :D But thats only because I've not got any books with holes in… I tried it once, but it doesnt work well with a large knife and paperback….

they would get suspicious at how 'happy' you were to see them ;)

and remember not to drop the soap. esspecially the powdered soap

Im really not thinking a magnet will whipe a hard drive like it does for a floppy disk. If you have ever taken apart a hard drive there are 4 really powerful magnets very close to the platters that contain the data, (The magnets are for the acuator I think).

As for the water idea, also I doubt it. My computer repair teacher says you can submerge a whole computer in water, and it will still work as long as you dry it good enough. :o

maybe you could just wire an explosive to your hard drive with a remote button, then if the police raid your home you could detonate it. :p

they already have developed something that breaks a capsule of acid over the platter after a string of commands

Take it out into a boat into a deep part of the ocean.. and drop it! or do the same in a lake..

throw ur hard disk in the microwave and nuke it. :D that should work fine.

best thing to do, is just get a really big USB pen, and store all your "controvesial material" on your USB pen, then have a very good hiding place near by.

so if you know someones comming, or hear a knock ont he door etc, you can always quick remove the USB pen and put it in that place. problem solved.

quickest and easiet solution :)

I think the quickest and easiest solution would be not to have any controvesial material !! :P

But somehow, I don't think thats very possible… I've spent an absolute fortune for all the songs Ive downloaded, hasn't everyone ?? ;)

AbSoRb wrote: I think the quickest and easiest solution would be not to have any controvesial material !! :P

But somehow, I don't think thats very possible… I've spent an absolute fortune for all the songs Ive downloaded, hasn't everyone ?? ;)

hahaha, 'no'… lol …:D;)

I have researched this before… If there ever was a time where you were forced to use a magnet… I would suggest that you use a Neodymium magnet. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=define%3Aneodymium+magnet&btnG=Search

how about having a aggreement with a neighbour or friend and poppig the HDD through the wall into your mates house, but make the whole look like an air vent or aircon shaft or summin.

When they come knocking at the door, grab ur HDD some insualtion tape and some snadpaper and make it look like a sanding block, then have it in your hand all the time, make sure to have some random DIY work goin on permanatly aswell (so u can say ur sandin summin with ti).

Have a wireless HDD in nest doors attic (dont even tell em, just make a hole in the wall of the attick when ther out! pop it thru and close the gap, send all your fiels to this when u need to, that way just lob ur wireless netwrkin card somewhere odd!

have your own personal Nuclear Reactor somewhere and lob it in there, if they can recover data after that the y surely deserve it! if you want to make it a little more secure, make teh reactor meltdown so you all hav to fuck off real quick anyway.

fill the thing with Superglue, paint, Hydrocloric acid.

make some C4, and wrap the thing in C4, when they knock have it detonate. allternatives to C4 are the obvius A-bomb.

you know those sucktion things they have in the supermarket to send money upstairs. have one of them send it to the sun, or the center of the earth, or the sewers, or the chippy (all tht oil!!)

wow dude deep!

microwave + HDD + balloon full of something explosive+match=big bang and destroyed microwave taking the HDD with it xD

Well, make thermite and put it in an empty drive bay and wire a detonator switch to your case. Thermite burns to 3000 deg faren so it completely destroyes every data on that drive. It will take your entire computer with it but atleast you know that your safe. If the cops come just flip the switch and of you go. Normal fire will do little to a hard drive and a magnet is impractical. This is the BEST and FASTEST way to wipe your data. Enjoy!!! :evil:

im been thinkin about this yeah, IF the FBI come knockin at your door, surely there going to know why they are there! they dont just randomly pay u a visit for a nice cup of tea and some cake? surely. even if they do, arnt they gunna find a small crater in your office were you blew it upor a hard drive in the microwave or something else like that. WONT IT BE A LITTLE SUSPICiOS?

"oh yea, i didnt have any illegal crap on my 400gb HDD that cost me 120 quid, nah i just blew it up for a bit a fun!"

seriously what wouold be the point?

better protection would be not to have any illegal material.