Slashdot Mirror
Why 'rm -R star' Isn't Enough
zdburke writes: "Short but interesting article in the New York Times (free reg req'd) about how difficult it is to cover your digital tracks because electronic documents are so well distributed -- on your lap top, on your workstation, on the server... Yes there are tools to thoroughly delete files on your computer, rather than just unlinking them when they're put in the trash, but it's the distributed nature of content these days that poses a special problem to the Ollie North's of the world."
On my harddrive space challenged machine, usually the reason I delete something is to make room for something else. So, chances are if they want "super-secret-MS-secrets.txt", the sectors have already been overwritten by "bspears-nude.jpg"
:)
Say you have important information on your hard drive. You only want one other person to see that information so you put that information on a floppy disk then give it to that person. No one else can see this information. You then take a pencil and stab the magnetic film of the floppy about 30 - 40 times. You then take lighter fluid and douse the entire floppy and light it. Stomp on the ashes for extra measure. Since the data has been on your computer. You must first take your hard drive out. Expose it to a giant magnet, then shoot it with a 12 guage (twice). Take all the IC's out of your computer and smash them with a sledgehammer, then run over them with your truck. Burn those with lighter fluid too. Since your monitor most likely displayed that sensitive information, you must take it to a helicopter and drop it. Have the helicopter land on the debris for safe measure.
Ensure that the other person gives your data to no one. Do a thorough background check on him and his closest 50 living relatives. After he is done processing the information; shoot him.
No need to worry about any information getting anywhere.
I was hired to recover files from a hard drive by a woman who was getting a divorce. Her husband had been cheeting on her. The moron had norton systemworks installed on his system and never defraged his drive. I was able to recover over a years worth of incriminating emails with nortons undelete. Boy was that easy money
http://Lenny.com
4 great justice!
If you have problems destroying documents, you could always ask Arthur Anderson or Enron.
Was it the orange stains on his hands and the faint odor of cheese that gave him away?