Wiping a drive securely

[schauerlich]

A sledge hammer is really the only way you can be sure your data is unreadable.

[FuturePilot]

I mean the fact that you can access an NTFS partition without the user/admin password is a joke.

You can access any file system without a username and password as long as the software can understand the file system. The only way to protect against any information getting pulled off the drive is to encrypt your files. Even at that point though, if someone has physical access to a machine, you're done anyway.

[Ceiber Boy]

oh. Personally, it still amazes how much data can be recovered with the right forensic tools. I mean, if I was going to plan a crime, I'd definitely stay away from a computer (or burn the drive afterward!).

The part in the new piece about how hard it is to delete files in windows (there's always a copy somewhere) is so true. Microsoft is so insecure. I mean the fact that you can access an NTFS partition without the user/admin password is a joke.

This is a bit off topic but what is the huge secret about NTFS, that MS claims intellectual property for!?
is the complete knowledge of its operation given somewhere on the net?

[dragos240]

oh. Personally, it still amazes how much data can be recovered with the right forensic tools. I mean, if I was going to plan a crime, I'd definitely stay away from a computer (or burn the drive afterward!).

The part in the new piece about how hard it is to delete files in windows (there's always a copy somewhere) is so true. Microsoft is so insecure. I mean the fact that you can access an NTFS partition without the user/admin password is a joke.

I can access linux partitions from another drive with mount. It's easy as heck!

[logos34]

You think I'm kidding? they hate dd!

They can't make money off you when dd is used, because every sensible human being will only agree to pay if they recover the data you need, which they can't!!!

yeah, I'm sure they do hate dd.

Personally, when I plan my next crime (murdering my mother) I intend to use dd to cover my tracks...

[logos34]

You can access any file system without a username and password as long as the software can understand the file system. The only way to protect against any information getting pulled off the drive is to encrypt your files. Even at that point though, if someone has physical access to a machine, you're done anyway.

yeah, all of you are right, you can access any fs, of course, what was I thinking, duh

(I think I'm getting 'brainfreeze' from all the ice cream I'm eating right now...)

Okay, but consider this: you CAN access an XP machine to reset the PASSWORD when you've forgotten it. I've done it, using a hack with a floppy. The only way to protect your files is to encrypt them, like you say)

[FuturePilot]

Okay, but consider this: you CAN access an XP machine to reset the PASSWORD when you've forgotten it. I've done it, using a hack with a floppy. The only way to protect your files is to encrypt them, like you say)

You can also reset a user's password in Linux too from a live CD using a chroot.

Like I said before, malicious person + physical access = very bad
you can do just about anything if you have physical access.

[t0p]

If you want to talk intelligently about secure deletion, it's worth checking out this site. It goes into some detail about "wiping", "erasing", "deleting"... explains what these terms mean, and what they don't mean. There's a lot of crap going around about what can and can't be recovered. And there's the simple fact that dban and dd are pretty much the last word in effective erasure.

If you want to break out the electron microscopes then the DoD want nothing less than degaussing and/or physical destruction of the disk. But, as the site says:

Personally, from the information we've read about such procedures, I consider them to be ridiculous in their extreme measures; hostile forces will always look for the 'weakest link' in obtaining desired information, and we believe it's still easier and quicker to obtain it from open communications and vulnerable human sources than any adequately overwritten hard disk

So chill out peeps! dd is good enough!

[zurack]

When we assist on an investigation to recover data (known as analysis in the trade) the very first thing is to make a mirror copy of the media (HDD CD USB...) so as not to alter the original media.
Deleting data from Windows is highly unlikely due to the way Windows and installed applications handle the data, the online programs like window washer and east-teck eraser are not going to save anyone as fragments will remain.

I have seen Dban quoted many times and would agree that program if used correctly would securely prevent any recovery of data. However Dban does not overwrite bad sectors and although the chances of sensitive being written there is very unlikely it still remains a place I would anaylise.

[meeples]

ive heard of the shred command. as far as i know i scrambles the binaries or something like shredding paper so that its unreadable unless you get scientists at it with special magnets.

i think.