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Thread ID: 39119 2003-10-28 04:57:00 Secure erasure of data from your HDD Billy T (70) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
187239 2003-10-29 10:19:00 Jeepers, what was on the disk? Video footage of him murdering someone? PoWa (203)
187240 2003-10-29 20:32:00 And there I was thinking Billy was to busy for this kind of nonsensical shilly shallying.;) Thomas (1820)
187241 2003-10-29 22:36:00 Sorry PoWa, but I don't have to prove anything to you .

I simply provided you with information sourced directly from appropriately expert organisations that can recover data from multiple-erased or overwritten disks, and evidence that Gutman, the expert you favour, also says the same things .

That a 35+ overwrite can make data irretrievable by any normally available or economic means is not in dispute . That is precisely why I referred to forensic analysis where cost and the application of technology are no object . If you read the appropriate literature you will see that patterns are created in magnetic domains on the disk that can be read to extract data if you know how to do it and have the equipment . You can bet that it is not being read from the HDD anymore, the platters will be removed and remounted for lab analysis .

I know it sound fairly incredible, but who would have believed that data could be recovered from overwritten RAM for example? I find that totally mindboggling, much more so than recovery from overwritten disks . The technology and physics for the latter are very easy to understand .

I don't intend to debate this any further because as I said before, what's to rebut? If you want proof, you do the research yourself and prove it can't be done, as all indicators available to me say it can .

Don't forget either that the techniques known and available in the public domain rarely approach the levels of technology and forensic capabilty available to government law and order or security organisations, especially in the States . Those are closely guarded secrets that we won't find on Google .

Cheers

Billy 8-{) :|
[pre][b]It is worth noting that Alastair, whose post originally
spawned this most interesting diversion, has successfully
resolved his problem without resort to writing zeros or ones
to his HDD or indeed utilising anything more hi-tech than
some logic and a judicious application of the delete button . :D
Billy T (70)
187242 2003-10-30 07:14:00 Sorry Billy T, but you do. Otherwise what was the purpose of starting this whole thread?

> #3 You cannot really erase a hard drive. Magnetic media including hard drives are all similar in that every write leaves faint traces behind, even when the media have been overwritten numerous times.

Your whole point of this thread was to prove the statement above, and discredit any data overwriting techniques, and by saying the only way to erase data was to destroy the hard disk - but yet you cannot even do that, and I disproved it by saying that there would be just too many possibilites & combinations to piece together the original data if it had been overwritten many times.

If you can't come up with any logical proof by way of article or study, then everything you have said is rubbish, and I win. Your the one that started it, so you have to provide the evidence, not the other way round.

Believe it or not you were the one taking
my idea out of proportion. I suggested to wipe the
freespace on the drive with 0's because that
actually recovers free space better than emptying
the recycle bin. Try it some time. As for something
so simple as emptying the Norton recycle bin, well
DUH.

I'm also glad I don't have Billy T on my debating
team as the team would lose very poorly indeed,
purely because they can't back up their arguments
with evidence. :D
PoWa (203)
187243 2003-10-30 07:57:00 My thoughts entirely Powa,brings the subject up then says nothing to prove,I mean to say. Thomas (1820)
187244 2003-10-30 09:21:00 You should talk Thomas, you would be the all time champion for posting when you have nothing useful to say, I reckon you missed your vocation .

You should have been a mirror tester, either that or an echo chamber demonstrator . :^O

Getting back to the thread, I'm sorry PoWa but if you can't comprehend what I have said, there is little point in my responding further . No offence intended, but you only read what you want to read, and refuse to believe that which you can't comprehend .

It is not my responsibility to educate you or try to overcome your doubts . The information has been provided so believe it or don't as you wish . You certainly seemed to believe it in 2002, or haven't you checked your old thread yet .

I'm outa here, goodnight .

Cheers

Billy 8-{):D
Billy T (70)
187245 2003-10-30 09:42:00 Roflmao @ BillyT :^O :^O What a cop out. Oh well I win then, don't argue with me again if you can't say anything useful to back up your statements with evidence. I mean, you started a whole new thread, and what the hell for?

If you recall back in 2002 I was looking for a program which would overwrite the data on the hard drive, which would solve my problem. So after I found the 35pass method I stopped worrying about the electron microscopes.

I've comprehended everything you've said and it is you who is not comprehending the situation and you haven't come up with any thing useful to refute the claims I've made.

So Billy, next time you want to argue with me
about this, I will redirect you to this thread
PoWa (203)
187246 2003-10-30 10:33:00 Anyway I've decided to treat you to a little video clip that shows an excellent way to wipe your data if the FBI is right outside your door. Very enjoyable!! :D :D
Core (homepages.paradise.net.nz) - XviD/AC3 - 8.36Mb.

You'll need to download these small programs which install playback filters (necessary to play the movie). Note: they are only filters so they don't stuff up any codec settings. Play the video in WMP or your favourite video player.

AC3 Filter (flow.dl.sourceforge.net) - 296Kb
FFDShow (flow.dl.sourceforge.net) - 318Kb.

The clip will only be up for a short period of time, so get it quick.
PoWa (203)
187247 2005-01-11 05:58:00 Hi Team

So as not to further hijack Alastair's post on his file deletion problem, here is a fresh post that answers PoWas' question and takes up his challenge.

Take a look here, PoWa (www.usenix.org) for Mr Gutman's own views on the erasability of disks.

And if anybody else is really keen, go back in time to one of PF1's longer posts (pressf1.pcworld.co.nz) in which the use of electron microscopes to read data off incinerated disks was postulated. After that, anything is possible so Mr Gutman's 35+ is a panacea for the mildly paranoid only. *Cough* be aware that the time taken to open a PF1 archive can be extended at busy times, especially if you are on dial-up. :(


The faithful will continue to incinerate their hard drives before deep-sixing the remains in the Atlantic Trench. :D

Seriously though, the technology available today makes data recovery possible from almost any form of erasure short of physical destruction of the disk platters as the following quotes from three separate data recovery companies indicate:

#1 Supported by professional technicians and equipment (super clean worktable, electron microscope), Nanjing Leichao Technology specializes in the data recovery and maintenance of hard disks. Currently, the company offers convenient and secure service to hard disks, especially data recovery technology (including open disk data recovery), which can solve the problem of any data disaster caused by hardware or software faults.

#2 Off-track reading relies on the fact that the disk heads are never
exactly aligned on the same track twice, an effect that is heightened
after a period of wear or when a floppy disk is written to in two
different drives. This means that the remains of an earlier write may
be found running along the edge of the track of the latest write. That such data can be recovered has been demonstrated by investigation using a scanning electron microscope.

#3 You cannot really erase a hard drive. Magnetic media including hard drives are all similar in that every write leaves faint traces behind, even when the media have been overwritten numerous times. Special electron microscopes can be used to recover overwritten tracks, bit by bit.

Be vewy vewy afwaid :D

Cheers

Billy 8-{) :|


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MZ
mzzzz (4789)
187248 2005-09-11 22:38:00 [edit: spam removed] Dagda (3930)
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