secure hard drive wipe using imaging

A

adamk9

New Member
I know that in order to securly wipe my hard drive i need to format it, rewrite it with zeros, then rewrite 5 more times with random values, but i have about 70 computers that i need to do this to and was wondering if i could do it to one, then use an image of that hard drive and overwrite all the other hard drives with that image, or will that only count as a single rewrite and still allow the data to be recovered? If so, do you know of any other solutions that may be somewhat faster than going to all 70 hard drives and securly wiping each one.

Sorry if this should be in a hardware forum, but it is security and software related as well so i wasn't sure.
 
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Copying the image of the drive would only be like a single wipe. Can I ask where you work where the data is that precious?
 
Well, you wouldn't be able to create an image from a drive without a partition table, but even if you were able to (something like file stream redirection with dd), what PohTayToez said, would be the equivalent of one pass.

Using tools such as DBAN and the like to wipe over the sectors of the disk with random data in conjunction with multiple passes messes with the magnetic resonance of the original data, making it harder for somebody attempting to perform a recovery. The DoD recommends 7 passes before it's considered "unrecoverable", but it has been proven that no matter how many times you wipe the drive...the data is still there, just impossible to detect without some serious recovery gear.

~ Mark
 
movzx said:
The DoD recommends 7 passes before it's considered "unrecoverable", but it has been proven that no matter how many times you wipe the drive...the data is still there, just impossible to detect without some serious recovery gear.

~ Mark
Click to expand...

This Department of Defense


Anti-missile defence details found on secondhand computer

Computer containing confidential data about Lockheed Martin staff was bought online

Highly sensitive details of a key US missile defence system have been found on the hard drive of a computer that was disposed of in California.

The information about defence contractor Lockheed Martin included a document detailing test launch procedures, blueprints of facilities and photos and personal daat about employees – including their social security numbers.

Access to such data could allow identity theft or industrial espionage against Lockheed Martin, which is working on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system – a project begun under president Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" Strategic Defence Initiative in the 1980s.

The computer, which has been turned over to the FBI, was bought online as part of a global research project conducted by three universities – Longwood University in the US, Glamorgan University in the UK and Edith Cowan University in Australia – along with BT and Sims Recycling Solutions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/06/data-loss-lockheed-missile-defence
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
It would be nice if they followed their own policies, but we all know that's asking too much. :rolleyes:
 
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