RE: Suggestions on free XP hard drive wiping utilities?

["Ben Steele" <BSteele () portludlowassociates com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MacFerrin, Ken [mailto:Ken_MacFerrin () csgsystems com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 9:20 AM
> To: security-basics () securityfocus com
> Subject: RE: Suggestions on free XP hard drive wiping utilities?
<snip>
> Essentially, if the data was really that sensitive, you need 
> to physically destroy the disk..
> -Ken

It may be possible that there is a happy medium between "obliterating the disk utterly" and "del *.*"--something which 
will provide a reasonable compromise between security and convenience.  I suspect that if the original poster were THAT 
concerned about possible file recovery, he would use a 9mm solution.

That said, there are a number of useful utilities for making it more effort than it would be worth to recover the data 
(TO MOST PEOPLE).  Something like Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net/) might fit the bill.

On a somewhat related note, I just recently purchased a Dell PowerEdge 2300 server on eBay which turned out to (still) 
be running NT4 server--no effort was made to clear it at all.  A quick boot of the system with my handy Knoppix CD 
revealed user profiles, HR documents, PST files, etc.  I am still stunned at the gross incompetence and/or negligence.

B.