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"Smash Your Hard Drive" To Fight Identity Theft
Will Do This For Free writes "BBC News has a story about the only fireproof way of safeguarding your personal information when dumping your old computer: 'It sounds extreme, but the only way to be 100% safe is to smash your hard drive into smithereens. [...] The more thoroughly the better.'
This sounds like so much fun that I almost feel like doing it right now. Let me press Submit Story first."
So...I don't want my data to somehow magically be restored when I throw an old hard disk into a fire? Where can I read more about this amazing data-recovery technology?
This sig is certified free of self-referential humour!
...It's the only way to be sure.
Hey, look! It's Bono's brother.
In other news: sky still blue, water still wet, pope still catholic.
I have one of those, too. I keep mine on the side of my computer case.
You'll have to excuse me. I'm need to go protect my ex-wife from identity theft.
"It sounds extreme, but the only way to be 100% safe is to smash your hard drive into smithereens."
And I know of a great way to do that.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Smash An Identity Thief.
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
I fill mine with concrete and drop them in the ocean. Stuffed inside an informant, of course.
Nobody will be getting more information from either one.
I am intrigued by the clever use of a hammer in the video, I may have to modify my method slightly.
Oh I dunno. I've found Windows vista renders most hardware inoperable. At least this state of the art piece of pc I've had under my desk runs slower than ever, now that it's got the latest/greatest os on it. You could bore identity thieves to death with transparent windows and shiny icons.
http://www.beanleafpress.com
It would certainly make smashing a hard drive to smithereens more interesting.
I wouldn't recommend it though. The paranoia you'd need to decide smashing a hard drive was the best way of preserving your identity would likely make it a pretty harsh trip.
Try crystal meth instead. The aggression and hyperactivity'd make be damn sure that HDD was properly smashed.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
The funny part, 90% of those people that understand smash, will not smash it enough.
Another 5% will enjoy it so much that they will do the same thing to their new computer, the TV and the next door neighbours car.
RBFH - is that "Really Big F**king Hammer?"
I am not stubborn. I am right!
I like my hard disk shaken, not stirred...
Nothing beats an afternoon of watching dBan and a comfy chair. Beer or whisky optional.
dBan sounds cool. So I put it on a disk and ran it. It really doesn't look that special. My computer won't turn on now.
His PC died due to dust accumulation (fried mobo, dead power supply, fused RAM) and he asked me what to do with his system. I told him the only thing he needed to worry about was his HD. Told him to drill a few holes in the drive, use a blowtorch in those holes if he still had one (he used to work in home remodeling), smash the drive with a hammer and put it in a bag with his used cat litter (they have two cats).
If someone is desperate enough to want the information on his drive, they're going to have to work for it.
Well that depends, what breed of cat?
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
RBFH - is that "Really Big F**king Hammer?"
Damn, I just bought a BFH to smash some walls. I wonder if I can upgrade with a serial number?
Just zero the disk once and odds are that will be more than good enough for any of your personal data, unless you are the fucking president or something.
"Can you guys recover my data?"
"Yes we can!"
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
. . . and tell her to put it in a safe place, and that you might need it later.
It's gone forever.
There is no chance that anyone will ever have access to that disk again.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Well that depends, what breed of cat?
Civet of course - you then get to enjoy the coffee.
Come on people! Zeroing a disk drive only removes half of your data. The other half is unchanged and still perfectly readable!
Exactly! You have to XOR every bit! :)
I believe it's called a "micturition tournament" in the UK.
.. and that's how the Pentium bug came into existence.
Put your hard drive in a sock, and toss it in the dryer with a matching sock. You have a 50% chance of it disappearing into an alternate universe, never to be seen again.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
You're just jealous because you don't have a tank.
Admit it.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
This is too simple. You just KEEP your hard drive, throw it in the safe with the guns and the jewelry, because you're going to need some old data off it someday, anyway.
You must cast it into the fires of Mount Doom! Only then will your data be safe!
When the informatin is "loosed", where does it run off to? Should we have some mechanism in place to catch it before it gets in the wrong hands?
you forgot 2 steps.
1. Perform a triple overwrite security erase on the entire disk.
2. Use a bulk degausser (AKA a powerful electro magnet).
3. Crush the drive under a roller or tank tracks, whichever is more convenient.
4. Melt the scrap into slag.
5. Bury that Slag in a toxic waste dump to deter any attempts at data recovery.
6. ?????
7. PROFIT!!!
Exactly! But I do it twice for additional protection.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Having a tank would make technical support a lot more satisfying:
C: "Hello, is this technical support?"
M: "Yes. May I help you?"
C: "There's a big black thing where my Internet Windower Vista should be"
M: "Very well sir. Did you turn your computer on?"
C: "....is that under the start menu?"
*rumble rumble*.....BOOM!
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
Those data recovery people are pretty savvy. They just recovered the 18 1/2 minute gap on the Nixon tapes. It is Nixon listening to Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie.
hm. I can't find the surface area of a HDD platter, but let's say that 1/3 of the radius of the disk is unwritable in the center. Supposedly, you can get as much as 500GB on a single 3.5'' platter. Now lets say you sand it with 120 grit sandpaper, so that you could rip off a chunk the size of a 120 grit grain of sand....By my math (which could be miserable) one single flake could contain as much as 248k of data, all perfectly recoverable via electron microscope. That's a lot of text! God...this sound like one of those Microsoft job interview questions...