Re: Hard drives v. CF/Smart media/etc.

[Raoul Armfield <armfield () amnh org>]

Herman Frederick Ebeling, Jr. wrote:
> :: Here's a good question that I don't think I've seen any articles on.  As we
> :: all know even though that just because a
> :: file is "deleted" from a HD doesn't mean that the info is really "deleted"
> :: as it can (depending on how badly someone
> :: wants to) be recovered.  Does the same hold true for CF/Smart media/etc.
> :: types of media?
> ::
> :
> : Yes since they are for the most part using FAT or FAT32 as the file
> : system.  So deleting a file still only marks the space as overwritable
> : not actually removing the data.
>
> Raoul,
>
>         What if someone is using the NTFS file system?  How many time would one have to
> overwrite the data before it became
> unrecoverable?  Would say PGPs wipe function be more effective on flash media
> then on an actual HD/floppy disk?

First of all IMHO NTFS is not ideal for storage devices that small 
because of the overhead involved.  Also NTFS only adds some security 
features such as file permissions. (Feel free to correct me if I am 
wrong).  As far as the number of times one should overwrite data is 
concerned, there are different schools of thought.  Some say 3 times 
some say 7 times, others may even say more than that.  However, 
regardless of what you use (PGP vs other wiping utility) I'd say that it 
is the same on flash media as it is on a HD.

Again feel free to correct me if I am wrong


--
Raoul