Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
gggg gggg <ggggg9271@gmail.com> wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Strictly speaking, no, not nowadays.
Back in the days of magnetic storage, you could boot a Linux live disk,
find the hard disk in /dev (say /dev/sda), and then go “shred /dev/sda” as
root. That would write a random pattern over the whole disk, and then do
it again another two times.
Flash drives don’t present all of their contents to the file system, so a determined opponent could recover some of your data even after shredding.
Most of us don’t have anything that earthshaking on a disk anyway, and don’t have anyone who might want to make that much an effort to recover it, so shred is still an option.
And, that also ignores the HPA and DSO -- either or both of
which can be present on a particular medium.
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
On 30/09/2023 00:27, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
There are various tools that will fill the disk with random data several times
over. That won't quite work against a forensic specialist if the data was valuable but should be good enough for all practical purposes.
They tend to be called something like shred. This advice looks OK
https://uk.crucial.com/articles/pc-builders/how-to-wipe-a-hard-drive
SSD's present a bit more of a challenge there can be orphaned blocks with faults that contain your data frozen and inaccessible by normal means but which
could be retrieved by a forensic specialist with the appropriate tools (basically hidden in bad blocks or by wear levelling).
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Yes, but it'll cost ya. There are disk drives that secure the data by >encrypting on-the-fly all the time, and decrypt on-the-fly so it all
happens transparently. They're 'enterprise' models, sometimes
with odd (SAS, fibre channel, whatever-it-is-this-decade) connection >requirements.
Those drives store an internal key that can be overwritten when you want
to lose the data. Even 'bad blocks' are encrypted, so the loss of the
key makes every bit of the data on the drive into... semi-random bits.
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27?PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Yes, but it'll cost ya. There are disk drives that secure the data by >encrypting on-the-fly all the time, and decrypt on-the-fly so it all
happens transparently. They're 'enterprise' models, sometimes
with odd (SAS, fibre channel, whatever-it-is-this-decade) connection >requirements.
Those drives store an internal key that can be overwritten when you want
to lose the data. Even 'bad blocks' are encrypted, so the loss of the
key makes every bit of the data on the drive into... semi-random bits.
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Absolutely all data is hard because the hard drive may have blocks set aside that
are 'bad' but not empty, which aren't addressable with normal read/write commands.
For a MacBook, you can wipe out your personal data by making a new user account, giving it admin privileges, and using it to delete your user account.
When the deed is done, the user folder is accessible for 'secure delete'
with the privileges of the new user.
A cloud copy can exist, for some items, of course. Chasing THAT data down is
more confusing.
On 9/30/2023 6:40 PM, whit3rd wrote:
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Absolutely all data is hard because the hard drive may have blocks set aside thatOn SCSI drives, one can reset the GDT and, as the PDT existed before
are 'bad' but not empty, which aren't addressable with normal read/write commands.
you started to populate the drive, it shouldn't be of concern.
Withthe GDT reset, I suspect even a casual adversary could coax the
drive to reveal the contents of those sectors (possibly with the
assistance of some thermal "enhancement")
For a MacBook, you can wipe out your personal data by making a new user account, giving it admin privileges, and using it to delete your user account.Are you sure it (any of its apps) never create temporary files
When the deed is done, the user folder is accessible for 'secure delete' with the privileges of the new user.
elsewhere, that reveal portions of the originals' contents?
A cloud copy can exist, for some items, of course. Chasing THAT data down is
more confusing.
A "paging/swap" file can also have copies of some or all of the
data in question. How long it survives, there, depends on the
paging policy and how much activity the VMM sees.
On Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 1:22:15 PM UTC-7, Don Y wrote:
On 9/30/2023 6:40 PM, whit3rd wrote:
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:On SCSI drives, one can reset the GDT and, as the PDT existed before
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Absolutely all data is hard because the hard drive may have blocks set aside that
are 'bad' but not empty, which aren't addressable with normal read/write commands.
you started to populate the drive, it shouldn't be of concern.
Withthe GDT reset, I suspect even a casual adversary could coax the
drive to reveal the contents of those sectors (possibly with the
assistance of some thermal "enhancement")
For a MacBook, you can wipe out your personal data by making a new userAre you sure it (any of its apps) never create temporary files
account, giving it admin privileges, and using it to delete your user account.
When the deed is done, the user folder is accessible for 'secure delete' >>> with the privileges of the new user.
elsewhere, that reveal portions of the originals' contents?
The 'elsewhere' question is... no, not generally going to be allowed, even for a privileged user, to stray outside the user folder. That's irritating, because only the
'shared' folder is allowable for multiuser read/write items, unless you use the terminal window and SUDO everything...
A cloud copy can exist, for some items, of course. Chasing THAT data down is
more confusing.
A "paging/swap" file can also have copies of some or all of the
data in question. How long it survives, there, depends on the
paging policy and how much activity the VMM sees.
Well, portions of anything in RAM can be swapped out on any OS
that uses virtual memory.
It isn't coherent files with organized info,
though, and gets overwritten so only recent activity ought to leave traces. There's a journaling system that ought to keep that kind of data corralled even
through hard shutdowns, but I can't say how often one REALLY erases anything on SSD
media, because the OS has the load-leveling thing to worry about.
If any disk drive has to be shredded, a small one dedicated to swap operations would be
the candidate.
I can't see any *reliable*, robust strategy for sanitizing SSDs
(or any other solid state equivalent) -- unless you have access to
the FTL. And, given how buggy "the big guys" have been in THEIR implementations (slow learners?), it's hard to imagine anyone
else being much more proficient.
On Sat, 30 Sep 2023 18:13:06 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd <whit3rd@gmail.com>
wrote:
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27?PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Yes, but it'll cost ya. There are disk drives that secure the data by
encrypting on-the-fly all the time, and decrypt on-the-fly so it all
happens transparently. They're 'enterprise' models, sometimes
with odd (SAS, fibre channel, whatever-it-is-this-decade) connection
requirements.
Those drives store an internal key that can be overwritten when you want
to lose the data. Even 'bad blocks' are encrypted, so the loss of the
key makes every bit of the data on the drive into... semi-random bits.
Just delete the embarassing stuff and write a giant random file until
the drive is full. Nobody but maybe the CIA has a chance to recover
anything after that.
That is about what the standard zappers do except that you have to do it two or
three times over to weaken residual signals. It depends what technical level of
adversary you expect to be going up against.
Most times what you suggest will be good enough. Although you could be unlucky
and find your entire password file in plaintext sat inside a bad block (if you
were daft enough to store it that way).
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On 10/2/2023 1:27 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
That is about what the standard zappers do except that you have to do it two or
three times over to weaken residual signals. It depends what technical level of
adversary you expect to be going up against.
Writing a file implies you have a file SYSTEM.
A file system has metadata that is typically not stored in the file
itself. So, a record of the (deleted) files still exists.
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On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Yes, but it'll cost ya. There are disk drives that secure the data by encrypting on-the-fly all the time, and decrypt on-the-fly so it all
happens transparently. They're 'enterprise' models, sometimes
with odd (SAS, fibre channel, whatever-it-is-this-decade) connection requirements.
Those drives store an internal key that can be overwritten when you want
to lose the data. Even 'bad blocks' are encrypted, so the loss of the
key makes every bit of the data on the drive into... semi-random bits.
On Friday, September 29, 2023 at 4:27:27 PM UTC-7, gggg gggg wrote:
Is there a simple command that will wipe out all info/data?
Yes, but it'll cost ya. There are disk drives that secure the data by encrypting on-the-fly all the time, and decrypt on-the-fly so it all
happens transparently. They're 'enterprise' models, sometimes
with odd (SAS, fibre channel, whatever-it-is-this-decade) connection requirements.
Those drives store an internal key that can be overwritten when you want
to lose the data. Even 'bad blocks' are encrypted, so the loss of the
key makes every bit of the data on the drive into... semi-random bits.
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The arsehole Don Y <blocked...@foo.invalid> persisting in being an Off-topic troll...
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