Would this defeat data recovery by electron microscopy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mike3
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mike3

Hi.

Would turning on a hard drive, crashing the head into the platters,
and let it grind away until it seizes up followed by 4 passes of an
electromagnet prevent data recovery even by scanning-tunneling
electron microscopy?
 
mike3 said:
Hi.

Would turning on a hard drive, crashing the head into the platters,
and let it grind away until it seizes up followed by 4 passes of an
electromagnet prevent data recovery even by scanning-tunneling
electron microscopy?
Click to expand...

On the tracks where the head physically removed the magnetic coating, to
some extent yes. A determined forensics team however would find the pieces
and try to fit them together and might be able to extract part of the data.
A few passes of an electromagnet is unlikely to achieve complete
erasure--bulk-erasers use an alternating magnetic field.

Most certain way is to toss the drive into an induction furnace and run it
until the whole drive is a molten blob--destruction is both magnetic and
physical.

If you can't do that then pull the platters, run them through a bulk-eraser
a few times, then go after them with a belt sander, then scatter the dust.
 
I happen to have a half dozen "scanning-tunneling electron" microsopes
sitting idle.
Send me the hdd and I'll let you know what I can recover.
 
J. Clarke said:
On the tracks where the head physically removed the magnetic coating, to
some extent yes. A determined forensics team however would find the pieces
and try to fit them together and might be able to extract part of the data.
A few passes of an electromagnet is unlikely to achieve complete
erasure--bulk-erasers use an alternating magnetic field.

Most certain way is to toss the drive into an induction furnace and run it
until the whole drive is a molten blob--destruction is both magnetic and
physical.
Click to expand...


I don't need something that phycsially causes the drive to cease to
exist, i just want to make an automated mechanism to kill it that can
fit in a computer and will destroy all data with *almost* 100%
certainty rapidly. Obviously we can't fit a little furnace in a
computer, but I haven't tried it. Would a small torch do the job?

If you can't do that then pull the platters, run them through a bulk-eraser
a few times, then go after them with a belt sander, then scatter the dust.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't a head crash do that? Wouldn't that sand the disk?
 
You want a big red button that wipes the drive with all the kiddie porn,
right?

Download diskpart from Microsoft. You can create a script to wipe a disk.

None of the data recovery companies will attempt to recover that. Only the US
government would bother, and only if you are a terrorist or drug smuggler.
 
mike3 said:
I don't need something that phycsially causes the drive to cease to
exist, i just want to make an automated mechanism to kill it that can
fit in a computer and will destroy all data with *almost* 100%
certainty rapidly. Obviously we can't fit a little furnace in a
computer, but I haven't tried it. Would a small torch do the job?
Click to expand...
Wouldn't a head crash do that?
Click to expand...

There is no way to deliberately produce that.
Wouldn't that sand the disk?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Certainly not reliably enough to protect data that matters.
 
mike3 said:
I don't need something that phycsially causes the drive to cease to
exist, i just want to make an automated mechanism to kill it that can
fit in a computer and will destroy all data with *almost* 100%
certainty rapidly. Obviously we can't fit a little furnace in a
computer, but I haven't tried it. Would a small torch do the job?



Wouldn't a head crash do that? Wouldn't that sand the disk?
Click to expand...

No--it will cut a single groove in one surface.

Pack the machine with thermite and when you need to destroy the data light
it off. There probably won't be much left of the building by the time the
fire's out but your data will be gone.
 
Previously J. Clarke said:
mike3 wrote:
No--it will cut a single groove in one surface.
Pack the machine with thermite and when you need to destroy the data light
it off. There probably won't be much left of the building by the time the
fire's out but your data will be gone.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the most reliable option to me. Probably the only
hardware-based solution that actually works.

Another one would to use strong encryption, store the key in your
brain and then shoot yourself in order to make the data inaccessible.

If you want this to protect something that was made by hurting
children, I would advise to shoot yourself immediately and
don't bother with protecting the data.

Arno
 
Arno said:
Sounds like the most reliable option to me. Probably the only
hardware-based solution that actually works.

Another one would to use strong encryption, store the key in your
brain and then shoot yourself in order to make the data inaccessible.

If you want this to protect something that was made by hurting
children, I would advise to shoot yourself immediately and
don't bother with protecting the data.
Click to expand...

Or if you are a terrorist of any stripe. Better yet, wrap yourself around
the machine, then light the Thermite--if you survive you'll know what it's
like where you're going, if you don't you'll get a preview before the main
event.
 
On 18 Jan 2004 01:11:53 -0800, in article
Would turning on a hard drive, crashing the head into the platters,
and let it grind away until it seizes up
Click to expand...

How would you do that? Disk drives don't have a command to do it.
[...] prevent data recovery even by scanning-tunneling
electron microscopy?
Click to expand...

To destroy drives marked "DoD SECRET", the Army security people where I
worked would open the case, remove the platters, grind off the platters'
coating with a belt sander, and then smash the platters with a sledge
hammer.

What's the point?
 
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