Re: HD destruction

["Greg T. Grimes" <gtg4 () MSSTATE EDU>]

This is a highly debated topic.  We have a pretty good Cyber Security and
Forensics group here on campus and they say that unless you want to pull
the drive apart and use an electron microscope, you're not getting back
data on a drive that has had "zeros written" to the drive.  And even then
it's iffy with today's drives.  I for one believe that.  I've seen them
take their forensics tools and try and recover a wiped drive.  It doesn't
work.  As long as your "wrize zeroes" to every sector of the hdd, you will
be fine.  A format or deleting of the partitions will not erase the drive.
Always remember to use a utility to wipe the drive, not format it.  I hope
this helps, and saves you money.

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007, Ray Bruder wrote:

>    We currently use an outside vendor to destroy our hard drives and receive a
> document of certification this work has been completed.    Does anyone simply
> have the HD's scrubbed and receive a certified doc and feel this is
> sufficient?  I was led to believe in the past that you can still recover data
> from scrubbed drives.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> ***************************************
> ** Ray Bruder
> ** Manager, Computer Operations
> ** Duquesne University
> ** CTS, Rockwell Hall
> ** Pittsburgh, PA 15282
> ** Work: (412)396-5775
> ** Fax   : (412)396-5144
> ***************************************

--
Greg T. Grimes
Systems Programmer
ITS -- Network Services
Mississippi State University
greg () its msstate edu