Comments on: Effective data wiping with a single complete overwrite http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/ An open-source software and technology related journal Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:35:21 +0000 hourly 1 By: George Notaras http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/#comment-11664 George Notaras Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:33:44 +0000 http://www.g-loaded.eu/?p=863#comment-11664 Pádraig: thanks for taking the time to comment. I have posted the information on a <a href="http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/23/shred-changes-default-number-of-passes-to-3/" rel="nofollow">separate post</a>. Pádraig: thanks for taking the time to comment. I have posted the information on a separate post.

]]> By: Pádraig Brady http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/#comment-11662 Pádraig Brady Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:29:17 +0000 http://www.g-loaded.eu/?p=863#comment-11662 I've just changed the default number of passes to 3 in shred: http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=coreutils.git;a=commit;h=83ae1bdd44432055e2cb6cf1502d1cc0cd651746 I’ve just changed the default number of passes to 3 in shred:
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=coreutils.git;a=commit;h=83ae1bdd44432055e2cb6cf1502d1cc0cd651746

]]> By: George Notaras http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/#comment-11661 George Notaras Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:31:54 +0000 http://www.g-loaded.eu/?p=863#comment-11661 Michael: That is correct. There might be other techniques or tool sets that might be a bit more efficient than the ones used during the tests of this study, but I really doubt that there is a methodology that can do magic. Of course using shred to wipe data is not overkill. But, I also doubt that shred can delete all instances of documents that have been temporarily saved on the filesystem as backup copies, autosave copies, older versions of documents by various applications. Basically, what I care about most is that a simple dd command: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX is more than enough to practically waste the data on the hard drive. Until now, there was always the uncertainity about the capabilities of the data recovery tools. I had never heard of such a study before. Michael: That is correct. There might be other techniques or tool sets that might be a bit more efficient than the ones used during the tests of this study, but I really doubt that there is a methodology that can do magic. Of course using shred to wipe data is not overkill. But, I also doubt that shred can delete all instances of documents that have been temporarily saved on the filesystem as backup copies, autosave copies, older versions of documents by various applications. Basically, what I care about most is that a simple dd command:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX

is more than enough to practically waste the data on the hard drive. Until now, there was always the uncertainity about the capabilities of the data recovery tools. I had never heard of such a study before.

]]> By: Michael Iatrou http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/#comment-11660 Michael Iatrou Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:50:22 +0000 http://www.g-loaded.eu/?p=863#comment-11660 Well, it seems to me that showing that one's methodology or tools cannot accomplish something, doesn't prove that it can't happen in general. Everyday we handle sensitive information, but very few are responsible for datasets large enough to be an overkill to use shred(1). Well, it seems to me that showing that one’s methodology or tools cannot accomplish something, doesn’t prove that it can’t happen in general. Everyday we handle sensitive information, but very few are responsible for datasets large enough to be an overkill to use shred(1).

]]> By: Cerebrux http://www.g-loaded.eu/2009/01/22/effective-data-wiping-with-a-single-complete-overwrite/#comment-11659 Cerebrux Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:24:18 +0000 http://www.g-loaded.eu/?p=863#comment-11659 Oh my ! now its better.... I feel good now Thaks a lot ...grate article... I was wasting my time when dealing with multiple wipes for security reasons since I was too a believer of multiple overwrites. Oh my ! now its better…. I feel good now
Thaks a lot …grate article…
I was wasting my time when dealing with multiple wipes for security reasons since I was too a believer of multiple overwrites.

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