The procedure for the Canadian Federal Government is a bit different than the military process. It involves the use of a utility that is provided by the RCMP which performs a series of full erases and overwrites of the drive among other operations. At the end of the process any forensics are a complete lost cause. Not quick, not widely available, but highly effective and very secure.
Much simpler to pop the cover off, spin the drive up, drag a nail or screwdriver across the platter, which will remove most of the magnetic coating very easily. Remove & remount the platter upside down, do it again. Repeat for all platters. You're not getting anything off it after that, and by this point it's pretty much totally in pieces, so use it for your next art project!
Slashdot Mirror
The procedure for the Canadian Federal Government is a bit different than the military process. It involves the use of a utility that is provided by the RCMP which performs a series of full erases and overwrites of the drive among other operations. At the end of the process any forensics are a complete lost cause. Not quick, not widely available, but highly effective and very secure. Much simpler to pop the cover off, spin the drive up, drag a nail or screwdriver across the platter, which will remove most of the magnetic coating very easily. Remove & remount the platter upside down, do it again. Repeat for all platters. You're not getting anything off it after that, and by this point it's pretty much totally in pieces, so use it for your next art project!