[opensuse] What is the universal (world wide) understanding behind degaussing harddisks?
Good evening from Singapore! The foremost question which I want to ask is, what is the universal (world wide) understanding behind degaussing hard drives? I work for No Secrets Agency (NSA) Pte Ltd (fictitious company name used). My sales manager Edward Joseph Snowden (fictitious individual name used) had *promised* our customer Leave Me in the Lurch (S) Pte Ltd (fictitious company name used) that we would "DEGAUSS" their hard disks after the PC replacement and data migration exercise for 15 trillion PCs (fictitious number used). PC = Personal Computer, which includes desktops and laptops Last Friday, I had already reflected to my sales manager Edward Snowden that since we are definitely NOT going to wipe our customer's data by using strong and powerful magnets (physical means), should I send an email to the IT Administrator of our customer Lady Gaga (fictitious individual name used) asking her which data sanitization method (by software means) I should use? My sales manager Edward Snowden had quickly deflected my concerns (that is, wanting to send an email to our customer Lady Gaga asking her which data sanitization method I should use). I had brought up to the sales manager Edward Snowden a number of data wiping methods by software means last Friday. (1) Very very simple 1-pass data wiping, quickest a. Using "sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda", overwriting harddisks from beginning to end with zeroes, where /dev/sda refers to the 500 GB harddisk, not /dev/loop0 and not /dev/sdb which refers to the bootable live operating system on thumb drive b. Using "sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda", overwriting harddisks from beginning to end with random data, where /dev/sda refers to the 500 GB harddisk, not /dev/loop0 and not /dev/sdb which refers to the bootable live operating system on thumb drive Any bootable Live CD/DVD/flash media could do it. (2) 3-pass U.S. Government/Department of Defense (DoD) standard (DoD 5220.22-M) Certified commercial software required (3) 7-pass U.S. Government/Department of Defense (DoD) standard (DoD 5220.22-M) Certified commercial software required (4) 35-pass Gutmann method, slowest Certified commercial software required All these was last Friday. In the midst of our argument over the cellular network "just now", my sales manager Edward Snowden tried to cover up himself by suddenly and unexpectedly making an excuse that he had told me last Friday I was supposed to wipe user data only, not the operating system! If he had wanted me to wipe user data and retain/keep the Windows operating system, he should simply have told me to Reset the PC (for Windows 10 only) or use a =secure File Shredder=! For Windows 7, you can still wipe user data and preserve the operating system by using the Recovery Partition. On Lenovo desktops, press and hold F11 when Windows 7 is starting and reset to factory defaults. I had advised my sales manager Edward Snowden not to use BIG WORDS like "degaussing the harddisk" and market to the customer using these big words. Any person who sees the word "degauss" would have understood it to mean sanitize *ALL* data on the harddisk straight away and without question. Please refer to Figure 1. Exhibit A below for the "degaussing" instructions communicated to me by my sales manager Edward Snowden. Please click the link below. URI: https://i.imgur.com/bGOMyVs.png Please advise. Thank you very much. Regards, Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming Systems and Network Engineer Republic of Singapore 2nd April 2018 Monday 9:35 PM Singapore Time GMT+8 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 02/04/18 09:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming wrote:
Please advise.
One thing you do not make quite clear.When these PCs are decommissioned are the drives going to be re-used? If not, then why bother degaussing them? Why not just use an industrial shredder to ... shred .. them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQYPCPB1g3o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsX1GnC8FQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlpW41huFug Of course your inclination might be to disassemble the drives for the magnets (to use on your fridge) and the micro-motors (for various Instructables.com projects). -- A: Yes. > Q: Are you sure? >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. >>> Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On April 2, 2018 10:01:15 AM PDT, Anton Aylward
On 02/04/18 09:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming wrote:
Please advise.
One thing you do not make quite clear.When these PCs are decommissioned are the drives going to be re-used?
If not, then why bother degaussing them? Why not just use an industrial shredder to ... shred .. them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQYPCPB1g3o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsX1GnC8FQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlpW41huFug
Of course your inclination might be to disassemble the drives for the magnets (to use on your fridge) and the micro-motors (for various Instructables.com projects).
Or to perfect your sledgehammer techniques. -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 04/02/2018 05:02 PM, John Andersen wrote:
Or to perfect your sledgehammer techniques.
Or use your cordless drill and a 5/16" bit and punch a 1/2 dozen holes through the platters, a quick dip in a bit of salty water (and then you can whack it with a hammer :) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 04/02/2018 08:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming wrote:
Good evening from Singapore!
The foremost question which I want to ask is, what is the universal (world wide) understanding behind degaussing hard drives?
<snip>
I had advised my sales manager Edward Snowden not to use BIG WORDS like "degaussing the harddisk" and market to the customer using these big words. Any person who sees the word "degauss" would have understood it to mean sanitize *ALL* data on the harddisk straight away and without question.
<snip>
Please advise.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
============ Obviously this method is not "universal" but I use a black ink felt tipped pen and draw a large "X" on the face of the drive with the label on it then, after accumulating several in the "old drives" box, I take them out to the range and use my .308 Savage to both target practice and poke holes in them. It is far more satisfying than using a drill. Fred Texas -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Mon, Apr 2, 2018 at 9:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
Good evening from Singapore!
The foremost question which I want to ask is, what is the universal (world wide) understanding behind degaussing hard drives?
I work for No Secrets Agency (NSA) Pte Ltd (fictitious company name used). My sales manager Edward Joseph Snowden (fictitious individual name used) had *promised* our customer Leave Me in the Lurch (S) Pte Ltd (fictitious company name used) that we would "DEGAUSS" their hard disks after the PC replacement and data migration exercise for 15 trillion PCs (fictitious number used).
PC = Personal Computer, which includes desktops and laptops
Last Friday, I had already reflected to my sales manager Edward Snowden that since we are definitely NOT going to wipe our customer's data by using strong and powerful magnets (physical means), should I send an email to the IT Administrator of our customer Lady Gaga (fictitious individual name used) asking her which data sanitization method (by software means) I should use? My sales manager Edward Snowden had quickly deflected my concerns (that is, wanting to send an email to our customer Lady Gaga asking her which data sanitization method I should use).
I had brought up to the sales manager Edward Snowden a number of data wiping methods by software means last Friday.
(1) Very very simple 1-pass data wiping, quickest
a. Using "sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda", overwriting harddisks from beginning to end with zeroes, where /dev/sda refers to the 500 GB harddisk, not /dev/loop0 and not /dev/sdb which refers to the bootable live operating system on thumb drive
b. Using "sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda", overwriting harddisks from beginning to end with random data, where /dev/sda refers to the 500 GB harddisk, not /dev/loop0 and not /dev/sdb which refers to the bootable live operating system on thumb drive
Any bootable Live CD/DVD/flash media could do it.
(2) 3-pass U.S. Government/Department of Defense (DoD) standard (DoD 5220.22-M)
Certified commercial software required
(3) 7-pass U.S. Government/Department of Defense (DoD) standard (DoD 5220.22-M)
Certified commercial software required
(4) 35-pass Gutmann method, slowest
Certified commercial software required
All these was last Friday. In the midst of our argument over the cellular network "just now", my sales manager Edward Snowden tried to cover up himself by suddenly and unexpectedly making an excuse that he had told me last Friday I was supposed to wipe user data only, not the operating system!
If he had wanted me to wipe user data and retain/keep the Windows operating system, he should simply have told me to Reset the PC (for Windows 10 only) or use a =secure File Shredder=! For Windows 7, you can still wipe user data and preserve the operating system by using the Recovery Partition. On Lenovo desktops, press and hold F11 when Windows 7 is starting and reset to factory defaults.
I had advised my sales manager Edward Snowden not to use BIG WORDS like "degaussing the harddisk" and market to the customer using these big words. Any person who sees the word "degauss" would have understood it to mean sanitize *ALL* data on the harddisk straight away and without question.
Please refer to Figure 1. Exhibit A below for the "degaussing" instructions communicated to me by my sales manager Edward Snowden. Please click the link below.
URI: https://i.imgur.com/bGOMyVs.png
Please advise.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming Systems and Network Engineer Republic of Singapore 2nd April 2018 Monday 9:35 PM Singapore Time GMT+8
I know it's been 3 weeks, but I just noticed this thread. Degaussing means degaussing. Cheap way: You can buy a degaussing wand made for hard drives for $500 or so (from Amazon). Then you have to disassemble the drive and remove each platter (not all that hard). Then pass the degaussing wand across every platter surface. It has to get very, very close to the surface. Maybe a couple sheets of paper could separate the platter from the wand. I've tested this. The data is gone at that point, and the drive is totally unusable. Just throw it away. This meets NSA data destruction requirements. if you buy a NSA approved degaussing wand. If you simply pull the cover off the drive and pass the wand over the platter from about 5mm. Testing that, all of the data survived. Expensive way: They sell degaussing machines the size of a refrigerator that work without disassembling the drive. Greg -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 2018-04-23 22:08, Greg Freemyer wrote:
On Mon, Apr 2, 2018 at 9:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
...
I know it's been 3 weeks, but I just noticed this thread.
I think the OP was written as a a joke :-)
Degaussing means degaussing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing «Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to reduce a magnetic field completely to zero, so degaussing typically induces a very small "known" field referred to as bias. Degaussing was originally applied to reduce ships' magnetic signatures during World War II. Degaussing is also used to reduce magnetic fields in cathode ray tube monitors and to destroy data held on magnetic storage.» Notice that for data destruction purposes, we can just as well magnetize it all with a constant field, instead of trying to remove the existing magnetism, which is what is meant with degaussing.
Cheap way: You can buy a degaussing wand made for hard drives for $500 or so (from Amazon). Then you have to disassemble the drive and remove each platter (not all that hard).
Then pass the degaussing wand across every platter surface. It has to get very, very close to the surface. Maybe a couple sheets of paper could separate the platter from the wand.
I've tested this. The data is gone at that point, and the drive is totally unusable. Just throw it away. This meets NSA data destruction requirements. if you buy a NSA approved degaussing wand.
Can't it be low level formatted again?
If you simply pull the cover off the drive and pass the wand over the platter from about 5mm. Testing that, all of the data survived.
Expensive way: They sell degaussing machines the size of a refrigerator that work without disassembling the drive.
Greg
-- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 42.3 x86_64 "Malachite" at Telcontar)
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 4:18 PM, Carlos E. R.
On 2018-04-23 22:08, Greg Freemyer wrote:
On Mon, Apr 2, 2018 at 9:44 AM, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
...
I know it's been 3 weeks, but I just noticed this thread.
I think the OP was written as a a joke :-)
Degaussing means degaussing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing
«Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to reduce a magnetic field completely to zero, so degaussing typically induces a very small "known" field referred to as bias. Degaussing was originally applied to reduce ships' magnetic signatures during World War II. Degaussing is also used to reduce magnetic fields in cathode ray tube monitors and to destroy data held on magnetic storage.»
Notice that for data destruction purposes, we can just as well magnetize it all with a constant field, instead of trying to remove the existing magnetism, which is what is meant with degaussing.
Cheap way: You can buy a degaussing wand made for hard drives for $500 or so (from Amazon). Then you have to disassemble the drive and remove each platter (not all that hard).
Then pass the degaussing wand across every platter surface. It has to get very, very close to the surface. Maybe a couple sheets of paper could separate the platter from the wand.
I've tested this. The data is gone at that point, and the drive is totally unusable. Just throw it away. This meets NSA data destruction requirements. if you buy a NSA approved degaussing wand.
Can't it be low level formatted again?
Not for the last 2 decades. The generation of drives before ATA allowed low-level formatting by the user. Now it is only allowed at the factory as far as I know. Or maybe there is expensive hardware that would allow it, Greg -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 2018-04-23 22:33, Greg Freemyer wrote:
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 4:18 PM, Carlos E. R. <> wrote:
Can't it be low level formatted again?
Not for the last 2 decades. The generation of drives before ATA allowed low-level formatting by the user. Now it is only allowed at the factory as far as I know.
Or maybe there is expensive hardware that would allow it,
I assume you mean the disk firmware can't do it. How does the manufacturer do it? Perhaps they format the platters before inserting them on the case? Or perhaps they assembly the disk without the circuit board, and use another board, or...? Yes, I remember my first hard disk. 32 megs. It had a step motor for the head, and had to be low level formatted by running code directly on the disk bios. I remember we had to load "debug" from msdos, load the program counter with a start value, and "run" that. I don't remember if it run directly or it presented a menu, but I do remember that we could choose the interleave. Default was 3, but I tested all values till 15 or thereabouts, and did measurements: my hard disk was much faster with a value of about 13. Much faster. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 42.3 x86_64 "Malachite" at Telcontar)
participants (7)
-
Anton Aylward -
Carlos E. R. -
David C. Rankin -
Greg Freemyer -
John Andersen -
Stevens -
Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming