Re: Zip list

Subject	Re: Zip list
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.misc
References	(11 earlier) <sse9cjx79g.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <ZPWdnYAQdIm6P2T-nZ2dnZfqn_SdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <ttc92n$2gdkp$2@dont-email.me> <rrScnegpuf2-JGT-nZ2dnZfqnPqdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <ttcn89$279gm$16@dont-email.me>
From	"25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net>
Organization	valence seaweed
Date	2023-02-25 23:08 -0500
Message-ID	<QoKdnb5OGMDSRmf-nZ2dnZfqnPqdnZ2d@earthlink.com> (permalink)

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On 2/25/23 5:17 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 25/02/2023 07:30, 25A.I866 wrote:
>> On 2/25/23 1:15 AM, Rich wrote:
>>> 25A.I866 <25A.I866@noacba.net> wrote:
>>>>    FYI - I have a PILE of old HDDs ...  some just Too Old, others
>>>>    Flakey.  They NEED to be wiped, or at least quasi-wiped, before
>>>>    disposal.
>>>
>>> A degaussing coil is the usual method to do this, and does not
>>> involve disassembly nor writing Pascal or C code.
>>
>>    I don't have one big enough to affect modern HDD platters.
>>
>>    But the cold-chisel method .........
>>
>>> And, for your 'flakey' drives, trying to overwrite by using the drive
>>> itself may not work at all.  While the degaussing coil just scrambles
>>> the magnetic domains on the platters.
>>>
>>> Search for one meant for erasing disks, ones meant for mag-tape may not
>>> be powerful enough for the magnetic material used in disks.
>>
>>    The only one I have was meant for floppies.
>>
>>    But a little Bang Bang with the silver hammer  :-)
>>
> +1
> 
>>    It is BEST to disassemble. It's almost a sin to waste
>>    those rare-earth magnets and the platters are SO
>>    attractive. But, if there's just no time .....
>>
> Really? We all did in *one* time, to see what was inside.
> Rare earth magnets are ten a penny.

   Why pay the Chinese twice ? A 'free' supermagnet is a
   free supermagnet ........

>>    However, regardless of the final method, some kind of
>>    software wipe beforehand IS wise.
>>
> If you say so. I mean really who honestly cares?

   The Overlords. There's an actual question on
   their semi-annual eval form ......

>>    I don't think old HDDs are AS likely to be found/exploited
>>    as some alarmists would like us to believe. However there
>>    is still "good practice" ... you need to be able to SAY
>>    you put in The Effort to prevent piracy.
>>
> That's just hand wavy nonsense. The sort of person who can take - 
> particularly a Linux hard drive  - even in perfect working order and 
> reconstruct an erased file, is unlikely to be so short of money that he 
> prowls junk yards looking for drives that might have something on them, 

   Well, that's The Truth .... which has nothing to do
   with corporate reality.

   Actually, conventionally erased files are pretty EASY
   to get at ... because they're not actually "erased",
   just that their entries in the file-allocation table
   get removed. The files are still perfectly intact
   until/if something re-uses their old clusters. There's
   been software for reconstructing those FAT entries
   since forever.

   THEOretically, you should e-wipe an old disk entirely
   even if it DOES take 48 hours. Then only the spooks can
   get at it, looking for the weaker magnetic sigs of the
   previous values too. SSDs are much harder to erase because
   of the wear-leveling system. For them the silver hammer -
   or the microwave. I've got a 50kv transformer rigged up
   with a couple of electrodes (tungsten plasma-torch)
   that's mostly for putting on a light show - but you
   COULD put devices between the electrodes .....

> and the people that did are looking for someone who left a full windows 
> install in there with all their bank passwords encoded into IE6, that is 
> accessible by a script within 30 seconds. If it isn't recognised because 
> its ext2/3/4 they will toss the drive anyway. Or reformat it and sell it 
> on ebay

   The minimal method with Winders disks IS to repartition and
   then format ext2. Ext3/4 are faster, but Ext2 seems to do a
   LOT more work during formatting setting things up it's way.
   No hope for the little hacks there.

   But the Overlords read paranoia-inducing articles about
   somebody, somewhere, some time, stealing Vital Info from
   a discarded disk - so ......

>>    Strictly, from the electronic angle, a hand "Stun Gun"
>>    at 50000-100000 volts played across the contacts in
>>    the back will make a BIG mess of things. Someone would
>>    literally have to physically remove the platters and
>>    insert them in the same model of drive or own custom
>>    hardware that'll scan/decode any platter ($$$$$$!!!).
>>
> ER no, what WE did, was to take an identical drive with drive errors, 
> remove its whole circuit board and replace the buggered one on OUR 
> drive, long enough to get the data off. It is actually reasonably simple 
> - or was at that time.

   Can indeed be done ... and if you send a screwed-up disk to
   a recovery service that's exactly what they do. The kind of
   hardware involving floating-probe heads that can deal with
   even warped platters and/or detect a few generations of those
   overwritten magnetic domains are insanely expensive and I
   suspect only the spooks could do that now.

   There's a vid on YT somewhere about someone with a dead
   WD MYBook USB drive. For some reason, WD *encrypts* the
   (already portable) disk anybody anywhere can STILL read
   just by plugging it in. The instructor had to physically
   de-solder the teenie-tiny dedicated encryption chip from
   the old board and install it in the new. As tiny as those
   chips are it took *dexterity* ....

>>    Now CDs/DVDs ... just put 'em in the microwave and set it
>>    for five seconds. The results are VERY artistic. Lotsa
>>    sparks. OR, just snap 'em in half (not as fun).
>

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Zip list db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> - 2023-02-16 16:57 +0100
  Re: Zip list Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2023-02-16 08:12 -0800
    Re: Zip list "25B.R866" <25B.R866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-18 03:59 -0500
      Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-18 16:16 -0500
        Re: Zip list "25B.R866" <25B.R866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-18 21:40 -0500
          Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-19 21:13 -0500
            Re: Zip list Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2023-02-20 17:19 +1000
              Re: Zip list "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-20 11:38 +0100
  Re: Zip list Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2023-02-16 16:31 +0000
  Re: Zip list Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2023-02-16 16:51 +0000
    Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-16 19:21 -0500
  Re: Zip list "Nuno Silva" <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-17 10:44 +0000
    Re: Zip list "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2023-02-17 10:41 -0500
      Re: Zip list Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2023-02-17 16:28 +0000
        Re: Zip list "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-17 19:06 +0100
          Re: Zip list Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2023-02-17 19:32 +0000
            Re: Zip list Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2023-02-17 11:56 -0800
              Re: Zip list "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-17 21:10 +0100
            Re: Zip list "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-17 20:59 +0100
            Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-18 10:12 +0000
              Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-18 12:43 +0100
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-18 13:15 +0000
                Re: Zip list Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2023-02-18 14:46 +0000
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-18 17:39 +0100
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-19 11:10 +0000
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-19 12:42 +0100
                Re: Zip list "25B.E866" <25B.E866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-22 00:58 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-22 18:54 +0100
                Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-22 17:00 -0500
                Re: Zip list not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2023-02-23 09:23 +1000
                Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-22 19:41 -0500
                Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-22 19:43 -0500
                Re: Zip list "25B.E866" <25B.E866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-23 01:08 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-23 13:32 +0300
                Re: Zip list "25B.E866" <25B.E866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-23 11:23 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-23 20:29 +0300
                Re: Zip list "25B.E866" <25B.E866@noaaba.net> - 2023-02-23 21:22 -0500
                Re: Zip list Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2023-02-24 13:18 +1000
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 00:13 -0500
                Re: Zip list Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2023-02-26 12:01 +1000
                Re: Zip list "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-24 07:58 +0300
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 00:15 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-25 09:34 +0300
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 02:33 -0500
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-25 10:19 +0000
                Re: Zip list Eric Pozharski <whynot@pozharski.name> - 2023-02-25 13:43 +0000
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-25 12:04 +0100
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-25 10:00 +0000
                Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-18 16:18 -0500
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-19 11:13 +0000
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-19 12:48 +0100
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 00:51 -0500
                Re: Zip list Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2023-02-25 06:15 +0000
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 02:30 -0500
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-25 10:17 +0000
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 23:08 -0500
                Re: Zip list Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2023-02-26 03:46 +0000
                Re: Zip list The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2023-02-25 10:09 +0000
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-26 00:12 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-25 12:10 +0100
                Re: Zip list "25A.I866" <25A.I866@noacba.net> - 2023-02-25 23:41 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-26 20:22 +0100
                Re: Zip list "28A.I873" <28A.I873@noabzba.net> - 2023-02-26 23:56 -0500
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-02-27 19:26 +0100
                Re: Zip list "28A.I873" <28A.I873@noabzba.net> - 2023-02-27 22:20 -0500
                Re: Zip list Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2023-02-28 15:21 +0000
                Re: Zip list "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2023-03-01 23:23 +0100
                Re: Zip list "28A.I873" <28A.I873@noabzba.net> - 2023-03-02 00:02 -0500
              Re: Zip list Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2023-02-18 16:17 -0500
            Re: Zip list Eric Pozharski <whynot@pozharski.name> - 2023-02-18 14:55 +0000

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