HDD Destruction

DickDastardly_2

I have a number of old hard drives removed from various dead computers and want to destroy them so they are unrecoverable...i.e. physically destroy them. Now aside from shooting them, running them over with a tank and other mad-cap solutions, is there a sure-fire way of destroying them without risking life, limb or house insurance policy?!

Joe_Bloggs

Take the platters out and use them as drinks coasters.Here they go to extremes measures.
J_B.

Cranky

I either drill holes in them or pierce them with a chiesel and hammer - put a pic of the MIL on the drive it'll be done in no time.

fermi

An old IT dept of mine had a few melted down into ingots which were then used as paperweights.

That's pretty unrecoverable.

Need a handy furnace/forge though..........

basmic

It doesn't really matter how you physically try to destroy them, there is always a way of recovering the data off them - it usually depends on the determination of the person recovering the data.

The only sure way, is to grind the disks down, then melt the filings into an ingot. :rotfl:

Just use a harddrive eraser program, and use more than 3 passes if you're really determined to stop the average person recovering your mucky pictures and accounts.

Personally, I'd use KILLDISK (link) and use the Gutman erase method - this uses 35 passes.

Craigoldfield

Take them apart with a screwdriver and cut up the platters with strong scissors, You also get the benefit of getting hold of some pretty strong magnets to play with too.

planemad

Should have stuck them on a bonfire a few days ago.

superscaper

basmic wrote: »

It doesn't really matter how you physically try to destroy them, there is always a way of recovering the data off them - it usually depends on the determination of the person recovering the data.

Not really, two complete bit level passes would be unrecoverable. Even the most recent physics research using atomic force microscopy could only determine a previous magnetic bit state before one write, and even then it had to assume it was only ever written to once (i.e brand new platter). And it'd take an age to cover an entire platter (we're talking major research time just to cover a couple of microns). Don't get sucked in to the myth of how sophisticated computer forensics is. It only looks for bits which haven't been overwritten. And how many identity thieves would have access to or the skills to use an AFM?

And when solid state discs end up being the norm they can't even use that method.

superscaper

Just to add and re-emphasise, as far as I know, there has NEVER been an instance of being able to demonstrate in real terms ANY overwritten data being recovered. All computer forensics is based upon recovering hidden and "insecurely deleted" information (and of course just information that's simply there), it doesn't AFAIK even attempt to recover overwritten data. And that's computer forensics, never mind common crims who'd have far less sophisticated equipment and skill.

basmic

There do exist deep forensic techniques, where you can view data previously written, sometimes going back months. As I said, it would take a very determined person to do it, with the right equipment too.

I can't find the link, but there was a computer pretty much cooked in a fire, and they managed to retrieve the data off it despite the drive being damaged.

superscaper

basmic wrote: »

I can't find the link, but there was a computer pretty much cooked in a fire, and they managed to retrieve the data off it despite the drive being damaged.

That's recovering the existing data and nothing to do with overwritten data. The example I gave with recovering single bits after only one write is the very limits of physics research never mind computer forensics.

I completely disagree with "There do exist deep forensic techniques, where you can view data previously written", quite frankly no they don't exist. There are no forensics tools that look for overwritten data (except in the minds of hollywood writers), they only look for fragments of leftover data that have yet to be overwritten. In fact only one complete write of turning all the bits to either 1s or 0s will be completely unrecoverable and there are no forensics tools that can determine previous magnetic states.