[Discuss] Disk/Tape Eraser

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

Some of the DoD wipe programs do a good job. A DD does not really wipe
the drive. Additionally, there is a hardware wipe on many of these
drives. A disk wipe using one of the methods on UBCD should be
sufficient unless you are afraid that the government will try to recover
the data. Of course, soaking it in Salt water or sanding off the
magnetic material will work. Tapes are more difficult. I am not aware of
any tape eraser, but you can run through the tape writing patterns. Then
pysically destroy the tape.

On 06/12/2012 07:45 AM, Daniel Feenberg wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 12 Jun 2012, Shirley M?rquez D?lcey wrote:
>
>> On 6/12/2012 6:19 AM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Can anyone recommend a piece of hardware used to erase hard
>>> disks/tapes/floppies? I've done some googling, looked on Amazon and
>>> NewEgg, but can't seem to find anything that fits the bill.
>>
>> Radio Shack used to sell bulk tape erasers. They're no longer
>> available from 
> ...
>
> Does a degausser really erase a disk drive? The case is usually
> ferrous, so I would expect the magnetic moment experienced by the disk
> platters to be very attenuated. It isn't something I have tested,
> though. We have been using the Wiebetech Drive Erazer for Sata and IDE
> drives, it has the further advantage that the drive is reusable.
>
> Of course dd can do pretty much the same thing (but may miss some
> remapped sectors, if that matters). 


-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
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