collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

When i destroyed my HDD, i used a hammer. Never forget the hammer.

sjpateys

There's only one sure fire way to wipe a Hard Drive.

PUT AN AXE THROUGH IT! (and then incinerate it)

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

HJJFFFAA

Shooting it is the most fun.

sjpateys

With a 12 bore.

DESERT RATT

My Feedback: (7)

People do not believe just how much and how fast your information can be taken from you. You guys that are in the Military know just how much information that is kept about you on that tiny little chip on your Military ID. And with the DATA readers that are out there now your Credit Card information can be read (STOLEN) while in line at Wally World by the guy in the next isle.

I have IDalert and in the last two years Ihave received two messages saying that my card had been tried to buy different things from two seperate places in the U.S. Ihad to get 2 new cards. My Daughter and her Husband had their Identity stolen and when followed back it was a credit card purchase that they never made. Now Think of this>> You order something online and you are at the mercy of the sales agent that takes your information! One way they try is: they will make a very small purchase usually well under $10.00 Most people never notice that that amount of money is missing from their account and then the thief will use it to make a much larger purchase. What does thi9s have to do with a computer hard drive? How many of you keep or have kept credit card information or any Financial information on you computer!

Smart phones have gps on them, WHY?

In the End. Technology is really not a good thing But it's conveient.

sjpateys

fair comment, but when you order online do you not always check that the site is using encryption for your card info. I'm no expert but I thought that prevented most fraud

HJJFFFAA

That just means data cannot be intercepted on the network. It may still be stored on your hard disk.

sjpateys

Not unless u save it to the HDD. Which I would never do.

grimbeaver

Why physically destroy it? DBAN is very effective:
http://www.dban.org/

ninjaman2

My Feedback: (13)

In a word, BF's advice is sound and the posts are great to read, but I come from an military interlligence background and I can assure you the truth of the matter is this...your old hard drive can't do you any good, but as he says, they can do you harm.  I use a few different software wipes to erase data, but the dumb ass in me always winds up at the same place...grinding the platters into dust at the grinding wheel.  It takes foreveeeer to wipe data clean using most of the good software that's out there.  I love reading the different approaches to lifes daily tweaks...the hammer does sound good doesn't it?  Don't tell anyone anything you don't want printed on the front page of the New York Times!

sjpateys

how do you know it works?

rcguy59

My Feedback: (8)

One of my flying buddies runs the I.T. department at a local Indian casino. He told me that dismantling their old HDD's and physically destroying the disc is S.O.P. for them. Makes sense to me.

sjpateys

sensible guys.

Johnny_Zero

My Feedback: (44)

20 gage with buckshot.....works for me everytime.

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

I'm CompTIA Security+ certified ao I have a bunch of stuff to say about this but I guess I'm lazy.. does anybody care though?

sjpateys

yes some of us do, very much so actually as long as its accurate information.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Yes please, do tell.

HJJFFFAA

Cookies, man.

sjpateys

disable them

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

Okay. I'll try to summarize and explain some of it.
One good option is to never load it to your hard drive in the first place. There are various ways to do this, including using a live Linux CD (I'd Recommend Tails) and use Tor, included. This means you only load important information into RAM, and everything will be gone as soon as your done. Keep files on a secure external hardrive, and access it offline if possible. Remeber, this is an explanation of ideal security, not necessarily practical or even relevant to some people.

Lets say you do have a bunch of information on your hard drive. The best way to overwrite is to use "junk" bits rather than a clean re-write. There are applications designed to do this. Some of the live CD's mentioned before are good options.

The best way is just to avoid putting the important information in a location where it could stay and never be overwritten.

Now... what about the information being saved on your computer about you? Well.. that is also preventative. Avoid Google and use Duckduckgo, Adblock, Noscript etc.

Really, it's best never to put anything you don't want there, and then just wipe and fresh install. It's simple enough... Overall though you don't need to physically destroy unless you know there is stuff that is VERY important, or it's something that can't be wiped (printer hard drive).

HJJFFFAA

Not everyone does this, and so network encryption does not fully protect everyone. You asked whether or not encrypted networks protected all data but I explained not when it's saved on the hard drive.

The_Shark

what doesn't everyone get about taking the panel off, popping out the HD and smashing it to pieces? its fool proof, its easy and above all, its fun!

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

I repaired (destroyed) my printer memory at Pablo's Taco's and Computer Repair (The hammer in my garage).

757jonp

My Feedback: (48)

If you want to hack into my hard drive for my account information have at it. I think I left 27 cents in one of them, yur welcome to it if you can find it.