Re: Hard Drive data security (magnet link)

[Kirk Schafer <infosec-capital () rainswept com>]

The company that provides the magnets responded. I didn't get info on 
the ceramics, but I believe they're still about $15 (+ shipping)--don't 
quote me. "Neo" refers to "neodymium". I have a small one--they are 
insanely potent magents.

Quote:
"I have sold the rare earth magnets for disrupting information on discs, 
but we do not claim to remove info, only disrupt it enough so it is not 
readable.", and, "I have sold the larger neo blocks to hospitals and to 
governmental agencies for this application.  But the neo magnets are 
expensive, the largest is a 1" X 2" X 2" NB147N-35 and they are $55.00 per."

I think the obvious caveat is that anytime you remove data this way, you 
might miss something, and recovery companies (albeit very expensive) 
still might succeed. But I'm just talking about good enough. With 
unprotected media, I was not able to recover anything after using a 
class 8 ceramic magnet...but hard drives, not so successful. Neo seems 
to be the way to go.

Kim's been a good rep, and here's the contact info:

Kim DeLong - Industrial Sales Consultant
Master Magnetics, Inc.
888-293-9399 ext 128
http://www.magnetsource.com

Best,
Kirk

GuidoZ wrote:

> Also in regards to:
>
>  
>
> > Try the non-techie approach....after they verify that your hard drive is
> > bad...then take a hammer to the disk...pound on it a few dozen times...then
> > give it to them.
> >
> > Why do they want your bad hard drive anyway?
> >    
>
> OEMs like Dell, Compaq, HP, etc want the bad parts to ensure they are
> bad. It also gives them a cusion they can use to keep some people from
> returning things for repair. (They intentionally take 2-4 weeks for a
> turnaround, plus make it a pain in the ass to do so. Saves them money
> in the long run.)
>
> Unfortunately the OEM could never verify that the drive is bad without
> having it in their posession and testing it for themsevles. I'll
> betcha using a hammer would void the warranty. ;)
>
> Another problem I've run into is trying to wipe a bad hard drive with
> any common software tools (I'm a big fan of Dban too.) If the hard
> drive has suffered from a head crash or other form of physical
> failure, it may not be able to perform a wipe. In this case, a strong
> magnet is the only solution you have left.
>
> Data can be recovered from a hard drive even if it fails physically.
> Granted it will only be by someone who REALLY wants the data off of
> it, but it's still quite possible. There are businesses dedicated to
> this aspect of data recovery. I've dealt with www.DriveSavers.com a
> number of times. They are quite good at recovering data from a hard
> drive regardless of it's state. (Fire, Damage, Virus, Head Crash, etc)
>
> Kirk Schafer <infosec-capital () rainswept com> mentioned what you'll need here:
>
>  
>
> > Given the nature of business, sometimes all you have to be is "good
> > enough" to make someone look elsewhere. For media not protected by a
> > metal shell (like a hard drive), a strong magnet will work. A permanent
> > ceramic with sunspot strength can be obtained for about $15. A have one
> > in my office, and a few swipes with one of these and data evaporates. If
> > you're interested in this, I'll refer you to a good supplier.
> >    
>
> I'd take him up on his offer for information. ;)
>
> --
> Peace. ~G
>
>
> On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 15:21:56 -0400, ssaehrig () jxray com
> <ssaehrig () jxray com> wrote:
>  
>
> > Paul,
> >
> > If you want a utility to completely erase a hard drive use dbnuke.  It is a
> > linux based utility and runs from a cd or floppy. The utility will perform a
> > complete erase of the hard disk and is not recoverable if you do the highest
> > security wipe.  If you Google search it you will have no trouble finding the
> > download. You have to burn it as an ISO image for a cd.  The utility is free
> > and very easy to use.
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: D. Weiss [mailto:David () cawdgw net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 6:11 PM
> > To: 'tony tony'; 'Jonathan Loh'; 'Paul Kurczaba';
> > security-basics () securityfocus com
> > Subject: RE: Hard Drive data security
> >
> > The only real way to destroy the data is either to sand the platters off or
> > melt the whole thing down. Sanding is easier and if you use a nice fine
> > grade sand paper as the last sanding, you can get the disks engraved for IT
> > awards and whatnot.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: tony tony [mailto:tonytorri () yahoo com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 12:43 AM
> > To: Jonathan Loh; Paul Kurczaba; security-basics () securityfocus com
> > Subject: Re: Hard Drive data security
> >
> > Paul,
> >
> > Try the non-techie approach....after they verify that your hard drive is
> > bad...then take a hammer to the disk...pound on it a few dozen times...then
> > give it to them.
> >
> > Why do they want your bad hard drive anyway?
> >
> > --- Jonathan Loh <kj6loh () yahoo com> wrote:
> >
> >    
> >
> > > Use eraser, or norton wipe, or some other tool to erase the whole thing.
> > > Eraser is a free utility.  But note this only works if the company uses
> > >      
> > just
> >    
> >
> > > another computer to try to recover your data.  If they use scanning
> > > microscopy
> > > well then......  but that's expensive.
> > > That's if you can access the drive.  If you can't powerful magnets work
> > > really
> > > well.   Just make sure the harddrive is out of the computer when you do
> > >      
> > that.
> >    
> >
> > > --- Paul Kurczaba <paul () myipis com> wrote:
> > >
> > >      
> > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > >   I have a question about hard drive data security. The hard drive on
> > > >        
> > my
> >    
> >
> > > > notebook is failing and Dell is going to replace it. They are going to
> > > >        
> > take
> >    
> >
> > > > the old one with them. How can I securely remove the data from the hard
> > > > drive?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Paul
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >        
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________
> > > Do you Yahoo!?
> > > Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
> > > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
> > >
> > >      
> > =====
> > Tony T. CISSP, CISA, CDP, CIA
> > Senior IS Security & Risk Manager
> > 360.906.7893 (Work)
> > Northern Telecom LLP
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
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> >
> >    
>
>
>
>  


--
___________________________________________________
Kirk Schafer

Infosec Capital - Your Information Security Asset
308 East Broadway Ave, PO Box 1851
Fairfield, IA 52556
641-919-1783 (mobile)

http://www.infosec-capital.com