Snoop-proof hard drives - Hardware & Software

[QUOTE=rhx123;42281062]They won't waste their time searching your HDD's for pirated stuff unless someone is either pushing them or they are searching for something else.[/QUOTE]I think I was mopey yesterday Lol /agreed

[QUOTE=GreenDolphin;42272842]A single effective wipe will completely destroy all data regardless of format and security since it converts all binary bits to a single value. How would the partition type alone even make some of the data salvageable?[/QUOTE] FAT32/NTFS are extremely poor filesystems when it comes to data security. A "one-pass" does not set all bits on disk to a predefined, single value - no matter how much you'd like it to - as the method of storing data pointers and how they both handle unallocated space still leaks information. Whilst all data bits on disk might be set to a 0 or a 1, effectively rendering personal data like you say unusable, that's not to say pointers do not exist outside the partition on that disk which could compromise your case in a court of law. I am saying that by knowing where to hide the data before the data even exists on disk coupled with a pass across the disk you would minimise your chance of having any level of incriminating data found.

[url=http://www.blancco.com/us/frontpage/]Blancco[/url] Or [t]https://www.theelectricaltoolstore.com/images/rack-a-tiers_hammer.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=Del91;42332382][url=http://www.blancco.com/us/frontpage/]Blancco[/url] Or [t]https://www.theelectricaltoolstore.com/images/rack-a-tiers_hammer.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] A hammer wouldn't help as 3.5 inch hard drives are made of some kind of alloy which can't scatter incomplete data all over your room. But when we discuss a 2.5'' drive, go ahead.

Find a metal shop and ask them to run it through a drill press.

[QUOTE=runtime;42328901]FAT32/NTFS are extremely poor filesystems when it comes to data security. A "one-pass" does not set all bits on disk to a predefined, single value - no matter how much you'd like it to - as the method of storing data pointers and how they both handle unallocated space still leaks information. Whilst all data bits on disk might be set to a 0 or a 1, effectively rendering personal data like you say unusable, that's not to say pointers do not exist outside the partition on that disk which could compromise your case in a court of law. I am saying that by knowing where to hide the data before the data even exists on disk coupled with a pass across the disk you would minimise your chance of having any level of incriminating data found.[/QUOTE] What evidence can you present for this?

[QUOTE=GreenDolphin;42335317]What evidence can you present for this?[/QUOTE] Fairly sure he's talking about only zeroing a partition on a multiple partitioned drive.

[QUOTE=Chubbs;42336059]Fairly sure he's talking about only zeroing a partition on a multiple partitioned drive.[/QUOTE] If that's the case then there might have been a misunderstanding. I was purely talking about wiping the entire drive.

I'd encourage anyone here to take an old hard drive and run a zero fill on it. If you want to be 100% sure that you've wiped everything, do the following: 1. Download KillDisk, a hex editor, and Process Monitor (sysinternals) 2. Run ProcMon and then run a zero-fill on your hard drive with KillDisk 3. Watch the ProcMon output, you should be seeing every bit turn to "0". 4. Open the drive in a hex editor and see for yourself. Search that bitch for a "1", you won't find it. I guarantee you that every bit on that drive will be a zero, thus making any data (or reference to it) unrecoverable. If I'm not mistaken, flash drives and solid states are in a different ballpark from conventional platter-based hard drives. I don't remember the specifics but I think it's harder to wipe them completely for some reason.

Theoretically you can recover data from a zeroed volume because a bit that was a 1 could be ever so infinitesimally different than a bit that was a zero. In practice you need significantly higher "resolution" to be able to see the differences, and as I recall this was only really possible on drives from 15+ years ago. It would also take tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment, and even then wouldn't be certain. Modern drives have such a high density that the "margins" on the edges of each bit won't be able to tell you anything. If it is possible, it would probably take billions to do.

[QUOTE=Merijnwitje;42333760]A hammer wouldn't help as 3.5 inch hard drives are made of some kind of alloy which can't scatter incomplete data all over your room. But when we discuss a 2.5'' drive, go ahead.[/QUOTE] Get a bigger hammer. Trust me, Data destruction was my old job. 2.5" drive platters do look cool when they shatter though.

[QUOTE=runtime;42328901]FAT32/NTFS are extremely poor filesystems when it comes to data security. A "one-pass" does not set all bits on disk to a predefined, single value - no matter how much you'd like it to - as the method of storing data pointers and how they both handle unallocated space still leaks information. Whilst all data bits on disk might be set to a 0 or a 1, effectively rendering personal data like you say unusable, that's not to say pointers do not exist outside the partition on that disk which could compromise your case in a court of law. I am saying that by knowing where to hide the data before the data even exists on disk coupled with a pass across the disk you would minimise your chance of having any level of incriminating data found.[/QUOTE] So they can find data pointers. A file named "PlansForGovernmentTakeover.doc" existed on your system at one point. If the data is not retrievable it is not evidence. All they have are reasonable suspicions if they can get any data off the file table. And you should never do a full wipe in your computer's installed OS if you care about data destruction whatsoever.