NFA Hard drive "wipe"

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  • willtill

    The Dude Abides
    MDS Supporter
    May 15, 2007
    24,337
    Actually, 2 of the 3 are showing the exit holes. So if you flip them around, he is consistently a little low and left if he is aiming at the "big circle" on the front. ;)

    You are correct. My morning grogginess has finally left me. :)
     

    Mark75H

    MD Wear&Carry Instructor
    Industry Partner
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 25, 2011
    17,174
    Outside the Gates
    Believe it or not, data can still be recovered from those drives. It ain't easy or cheap and you would need a clean room environment with someone who REALLY knows what they are doing. But it is possible. Not probable, just saying its possible.
    Taking a big ass magnet, degaussing tool, rare-earth, etc to them with kill the data. Or burn them to a crisp.

    I had a hole collection of drives I disabled that way that I gave to coworkers. I found it quite satisfying.

    Not sure degaussing via tool is as complete as fire. Rare earth, definitely recoverable.

    Sanding with rough paper would probably work because it would remove the acutal surface where the data was and would require removing more metal surface to physically resurface the platen for a pickup to function on
     

    G O B

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 17, 2007
    1,940
    Cen TX
    Total wipe is best done by fire. 1,700* F completely removes all traces magnetic encoding. I burn my old hard drives and cell phones. Batteries explode with surprising force!
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    What caliber does NSA require? :)

    Secure data required the drive to be ground in a special machine. Simplistically think what the military requires their old FA rifles and MGs to go through for decommissioning. Drums with metal nubs. Crushes and rips them in to little pieces.

    A bullet through the drive still leaves recoverable data. It would be fragmented, but there are ways to recover some of the data that isn’t on the actual portion destroyed.

    Now we are talking nation state or advanced forensic company, not greasy guy in his mother’s basement or organized crime.

    I’d trust a .223 or better to erase a HDD for my personal stuff.
     

    LRoberts

    Retired Master General El
    Oct 22, 2017
    241
    SM County
    Modern drives are bullet resistant.

    **Try smashing one with a sledge hammer. The platter is pretty thick.

    Where you see projectiles passing through is where the circuit card is, leaving the data to be extracted from the platter by a nefarious actor. Which is why 5 holes is recommended, at least 2 will hit the platter.

    **Just ask Hitlery.
     

    LaddyBoy

    Member
    Jun 15, 2013
    14
    Wiping hard drives

    I usually;
    Pull the disks out of the drive(s).
    Get out my armature tester.
    Pass the disks over the magnetizer of the tester a few times.
    Then I hang the reflective disks over my garden to scare the birds away.
    I then salvage the aluminum and copper to sell.
    I do like your way.
     

    plinkerton

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 30, 2012
    1,441
    Abingdon
    Wipe them with this first http://eraser.heidi.ie/ then put 4 or 5 big holes in them. No way anyone is getting anything after that.
    Most of the drives I have destroyed by firing squad lately are glass laptop drives, the platters just turn to a shiny glistening powder. Nothing left.
    Some newer desktop drives are glass too, you can't retrieve data from powder.
     

    W2D

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 2, 2015
    2,074
    Escaped MD for FL
    I open up the cases and remove the rare earth magnets. Sometimes they break free cleanly. The metal platens are tough- I bend them in the vise with a 5 pounder.

    I like the .223 method better, but I don’t believe our range would allow it.

    I suspect any wiping utility and one or two whacks with a hammer is more than sufficient for my level of risk. YMMV.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     

    antco

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 28, 2010
    7,045
    Calvert, MD
    Secure data required the drive to be ground in a special machine. Simplistically think what the military requires their old FA rifles and MGs to go through for decommissioning. Drums with metal nubs. Crushes and rips them in to little pieces.

    A bullet through the drive still leaves recoverable data. It would be fragmented, but there are ways to recover some of the data that isn’t on the actual portion destroyed.

    Now we are talking nation state or advanced forensic company, not greasy guy in his mother’s basement or organized crime.

    I’d trust a .223 or better to erase a HDD for my personal stuff.

    Prior to the shredder, a common solution was to bury the device, which eventually led to those devices being dug up and ran through the shredder.
     

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