Erasing data with thermite ...and other theoretical mods

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Should I....should I lock my own thread?

Well Put :p


As to how I'd destroy all my data... well the Gigabyte RAM disk is an amazing idea, actually... Im thinking my box would be a fully welded diamond plate crate... with at least 2 panel thick walls. The thing would be a total complete closed box, with vents leading to the fan intake and outputs, so no internals could be reached by say, a screwediver. Explosives would, of course, be placed in the bottom, top and sides of the box, along with a USB fingerprint scanner leading to the top of the case. A wrong fingerprint entry 3x (or the removal of the USB cable) would shutdown the computer (bios passworded as well). Inside the case, complete temperature and vibration monitors would be enabled (no cutting torches, or other tools could be used without detection).

FINALLY, a thin insulated wire, would be run between the 2 panels of diamond plate, making a total wrap around the case. Any attempt to cut through the panneling would, most likely, cut the wire, opening the circuit. Explosions ensue :rolleyes: killing the data, but hopefully not the people trying to get at my files. Being charged for illegal material (read kiddy pr0n :p) is better than 1st degree murder (I think?).

*EDIT* Bulletproof glass window :D
 
Qtip42 said:
Should I....should I lock my own thread?
No.

The same methods could be used by someone with a bad hard drive that they want to securely dispose of. I haven't had any hard drives die, but I did "safely" dispose of a friend's hard drive with the help of 9mm and .223 bullets. The casing is fragile and cracks when shot. The platters bend with slower bullets. .223 goes through the drive almost like a hole punch with minimal bending, so a combination of the two works best. :D
 
Arcygenical said:
Well Put :p


As to how I'd destroy all my data... well the Gigabyte RAM disk is an amazing idea, actually... Im thinking my box would be a fully welded diamond plate crate... with at least 2 panel thick walls. The thing would be a total complete closed box, with vents leading to the fan intake and outputs, so no internals could be reached by say, a screwediver. Explosives would, of course, be placed in the bottom, top and sides of the box, along with a USB fingerprint scanner leading to the top of the case. A wrong fingerprint entry 3x (or the removal of the USB cable) would shutdown the computer (bios passworded as well). Inside the case, complete temperature and vibration monitors would be enabled (no cutting torches, or other tools could be used without detection).

FINALLY, a thin insulated wire, would be run between the 2 panels of diamond plate, making a total wrap around the case. Any attempt to cut through the panneling would, most likely, cut the wire, opening the circuit. Explosions ensue :rolleyes: killing the data, but hopefully not the people trying to get at my files. Being charged for illegal material (read kiddy pr0n :p) is better than 1st degree murder (I think?).

*EDIT* Bulletproof glass window :D



Give this man a cookie. This is what I'm looking for. For the folks reading along, we need to stay on the "destorying data" topic in regards to modding, otherwise it will get closed.
 
I Safely Disposed of my old HD with a drop-saw, cut it into about 40 pieces then berried the 40 pieces around the backyard about 5 feet down. (This was back when I was in game development and I had backed up allot of 'Top Secret" stuff to an old drive for a few weeks when I ran out of space on my work comp)

This is what it looked like before I berried it around the backyard.
hard-drive-shredding.jpg


And yes when you use a drop saw on a HD, shrapnel fly’s everywhere.
Some of the outer metal casing from my drive imbedded itself 2 inches into a wooden window frame 10 feet away on the other side of my workshop.

If you use my technique of HD disposal USE SAFTY GEAR!!!!!

Drac :D
 
berried it? You covered it with berries? :eek:

You could cover it with Dingleberries. That would keep ANYONE away!

barbed wire might work too.
 
I got to say I was rather surprised at the response to my post, I had already put on my Asbestus suite but it wasn't needed, seems you all understood my concerns. It wasn't about destroying data, it was just that the OP had suggested that this be used I a wrongful manner. as long as it is clear that this is all hypothitcal (sp?) then its all fine with me. I will even offer my suggestion.

Remove the top cover from the drive and replace it with Glass, Place a heavy sharp object above the drive held in place with a removable pin. When the (insert Comunist goverment here) come knocking down your door down to stop you from releasing Evidence of there wrong doing just pull the pin, The sharp object will drop thru the glass breaking the Platters rendering the data on the drive useless. you could use something like an Icepick modded with a lead weight to force it thru the glass and platters, the platters are just Glass Coated with a Magnetic Material so they should break fairly easy.
 
Yea, the platters whould shatter, but even a little fragment of a platter can yield great results.



I'd build my computer into some sort of a compound of thermite, magnesium, and concrete. With a built in flare. Just pull the pin, boom.
 
A pull the pin kind of mod would get you hurt wouldn't it?

Can anyone think of a way to silently kill the drive? I'm a fan of the gigabyte i-drive use. Only after you remove the battery you could destory it anyway for good measure.
 
Thermite is a good idea if you dont mind your house burning to the ground. Arson/insurance fraud ontop of whatever you were doing to need to burn your hard drives apart...

http://www.powerlabs.org/pssecc.htm

'Nuff said. That would squish those hard drive platters to a dime.
 
use an IBM deskstar GXP75... guaranteed to go with all your data...

oh you mean you want it to go when YOU want... hrmm... in that case... i would probably just put a small shaped charge on top of each disk... should take care of it and be fairly clean/quiet too...

i have lots of expierence destroying computer parts at work, i use it as a form of stress-relief therapy... let me tell you man, there is nothing in this world that makes you feel better than watching a cd rom literally explode and vomit out its guts when you wack it with a mic stand...

i think i need anger management lol
 
Well, as a variation on the door frame degausser, one thing that you might do is to actually build the degausser into the case. Basically, put a metal square around at least the drive cage or possibly even the entire machine, and wrap it with enough wire to make it into a giant, bad-ass electromagnet. Without power, it should be fairly tame during normal use. Once you flip the "kill" switch, however, the EM field goes live and your data goes bye bye. Just need to make sure that the shell of the case is strong enough to contain any computer bits that might become overly "attracted" to the coil.

 
Wouldn't you have to put the degausser inside the hard drive itself, I mean theres already a very strong magnet in there, I am sure theres got to be some kind of shielding around the platters to protect it from other Magnetic interferance.
And as far as the gigabyte i-drive goes Memory still has a trace of its last state even after it no longer has power going thru it, so you will need to destroy the memory chips as well as removing the power source.
use an IBM deskstar GXP75... guaranteed to go with all your data...
I remember when those first came out, everyone was like, these are the best drives in the world, Everyone loved them, I went out and bought 2 of them for a Raid 0 array. I still have one that actually still works fine.
 
uzor said:
Well, as a variation on the door frame degausser, one thing that you might do is to actually build the degausser into the case. Basically, put a metal square around at least the drive cage or possibly even the entire machine, and wrap it with enough wire to make it into a giant, bad-ass electromagnet. Without power, it should be fairly tame during normal use. Once you flip the "kill" switch, however, the EM field goes live and your data goes bye bye. Just need to make sure that the shell of the case is strong enough to contain any computer bits that might become overly "attracted" to the coil.




hmmm.....very doable. You could even hide the coil in some elaborately decorated hard drive cage and add a bunch of fake switches that go nowhere as to hide the real switch. Without real investigating, they wouldn't have a clue.
 
So build a degauser to go around all your 24 hard drives (of pictures of butterflies), build a sealed box around it, non-metallic, so nothing will attract to it. Then encase the entire thing in concrete, thermite, and add about 250 switches, of which most lead to something like a bell, or a cathode, or a single led.
 
I wonder if the authorities would see the massive power supply array setup, needed to drive the degausser :rolleyes:.

I say... Store all your data on a 60gb ipod... leave a bare copy of windows on your computer, and run everything offa the iPod. Granted... things would be slow on the drive... but at least people wouldn't think twice about the contents of the gadget when you go through security on your trip to Mexico :). I've had portable HD's opened on me when going through security (because you can obviously fit enough explosives in a 2.5' enclosure to do damage to more than yourself and maybe the person beside you)

Pictures of butterflies
:D
 
I got a better idea on how to destroy your data.

Just buy a maxtor harddrive and there is no need to wait til you get busted to be able to start wiping the drive, this thing has an inbuilt technology thingy ( its years ahead of its time ) that will kill your data for free and do it long before you ever get the chance to get busted....

we have a winner gentlemen

or you could do what mel gibson did in that film, i cant recall the name, but he was some secret service dude or something, and bad guys were after him and he had lined his pad with aluminum filing's etc and as soon as his house was compromised it took him like 5 seconds to destroy everything.

Cool scene of the film, but i cannot remember the name, it also has the dude from startrek, the commander, baldy dude and julia roberts in it....
 
EVIL-SCOTSMAN said:
I got a better idea on how to destroy your data.

Just buy a maxtor harddrive and there is no need to wait til you get busted to be able to start wiping the drive, this thing has an inbuilt technology thingy ( its years ahead of its time ) that will kill your data for free and do it long before you ever get the chance to get busted....

we have a winner gentlemen

or you could do what mel gibson did in that film, i cant recall the name, but he was some secret service dude or something, and bad guys were after him and he had lined his pad with aluminum filing's etc and as soon as his house was compromised it took him like 5 seconds to destroy everything.

Cool scene of the film, but i cannot remember the name, it also has the dude from startrek, the commander, baldy dude and julia roberts in it....
Answer: Conspiracy Theory, Patrick Stewart.


 
Dracsid said:
I think I would have to build my computer into a solid block of cement. Then put this block in a wall of my house with vents, fans and power the only thing leading to it. A cat5 cable the only thing coming out of it. then just for the hell of it I think I’ll have a big red button that is linked to a large amount of explosives at the earths core. When they come to raid me they wont be thinking about my computer in the cement :p !
Don’t stress I'm not a terrorist.


P.S good job on the fun post. Haven’t seen a post like this in years. :D

Drac

Aww man thats what I was thinking... not to the cement part but bury a computer waaay below ground. Meh you can even watercool it with the earth too! Then keep a second computer in the real world filled with happy bubbly stuff.

I just think its easier to hide something instead of figuring out how to destroy it. It just seems soo easy for me to push the wrong button one day and go :eek: as thermite starts flowing through my computer.
 
I would make a hole about 10 feet deep, and make a concrete box. Do a variation on convection cooling, but run the cooling loop out of the concrete box under the yard. Run electric back to the underside of the house, and splice into the electric system inside the wall. Or maybe hook it into a neighbor's electricity :)

Set up a the wireless card to check for a heartbeat signal from another computer in the house. If the heartbeat signal misses, the wireless card shuts down into a pure "listen" mode until it gets the signal back.

Oh, and seal the concrete box, fill in the rest of the hole with dirt, plant grass, etc. Voila, your data is extremely hard to find, and preserved for later!
 
Mohonri said:
I would make a hole about 10 feet deep, and make a concrete box. Do a variation on convection cooling, but run the cooling loop out of the concrete box under the yard. Run electric back to the underside of the house, and splice into the electric system inside the wall. Or maybe hook it into a neighbor's electricity :)

Set up a the wireless card to check for a heartbeat signal from another computer in the house. If the heartbeat signal misses, the wireless card shuts down into a pure "listen" mode until it gets the signal back.

Oh, and seal the concrete box, fill in the rest of the hole with dirt, plant grass, etc. Voila, your data is extremely hard to find, and preserved for later!
Problem with that is that if there is a wireless signal being emitted somewhere, they WILL find it. A better solution that still uses your basic principle (deep buried computer with hidden power lines) would be to get a couple of these powerline ethernet adapters to communicate between your two computers with. Since the data runs over your powerlines, there are no telltale ethernet cables, and no wireless signals to detect. All you have to do is to hide/destroy the adapter that your "terminal" computer uses to access the buried server, and all apparent access to the server is severed. Unless they were specifically looking for data piggybacking on your powerlines, they would never notice that the network data was anything other than a little bit of line noise. The only concern I might have in this case is that I know that the power companies rely on this technology to communicate between plants and such, and would want to make sure that my data packets were "dropped" before they got to the neighborhood mains from my fuse panel. Not sure on the specifics of these things, though, so it is possible that they need to be on the same circuit in order to work, in which case no worries there either.

 
MY computer would be burried 15 feet under my basement floor, all disc drives would be external, with wires running through my house to my moniter location. To get to my comp to work on it etc, there would be a 3 mile tunnel leading to my computer. The door to the tunnel would be located buried under the highschools baseball feild, and the door would be 7 inches of hardened steel. In order to gain access to the tunnel you would have to go thru a retina scan, same to turn on the computer from my house. To destroy The data on my comp a Small explosion would happen if anyone would try bypassing the retina scan. I would backup all my data on a offshore server, where nothing is illegal. :D
 
make a speical glass case for the hd ( not replace the existing case but something the whole drive can fit in ) and have all the cables and what not exit at the top of the case. have another case on top also made of glass with a device to shatter the top case and let its contants fill the bottom case which holds the hd, what is in the top case you might ask. some CRAZY powerfull acid. if done correctly you can have this harm nothing at all but the hd in question.
 
I prefer the preemptive method, although it doesnt lend itself to case mods: strong encrpytion of anything "incriminating"

Otherwise, A concrete box holding a few 30 caliber rounds pointed at the harddrive ready to be fired through the drives would do a good job.
Furthermore, shoot through 3 or 4 drives, with only 1 drive having real data on it, the others filled full of random data.
 
uzor said:
Problem with that is that if there is a wireless signal being emitted somewhere, they WILL find it.
Ah, see, that's why I had the heartbeat timer--as soon as the (visible, in-the-house) computer powers off, the buried computer ceases to emit any signal. It waits, listening, for the heartbeat signal to come back.

Besides, you can say "oh, that must be my neighbor/local wardriver piggybacking on my wireless network" if it gets detected...
 
If I had warning, I'd rather toss them in a river or something. Imagine trying to dredge a large river for a 4"x6" hard drive. Besides, if they're coming knocking for you, then they already know you've done something illegal, possibly through packet monitoring or something.

However, if I have a drive die, which unfortunately I have had one die recently, to properly dispose of it I would just crush it with a sledgehammer. The remaining bits of platter would just get dipped in whatever harsh stuff I have laying around. Your average Joe isn't going to have the equipment needed to read data off from pieces of a harddrive platter.


Edit: Since this thread is also geared towards insane setups to protect data, I'd have a transformer connected to the HDs that ramped up 120VAC to some insanely high current and run it through the platters. It'd fuse them all together, I suppose.
 
hammer a few nails threw the middle of the drives with nail gun, and then jump out of the window and evade, then start the collecting again. As there is no need to back shit up in this day and age unless it is something you have made personally, like picture, piece of text etc, the rest can be downloaded from teh net, so why even bother about sending stuff to backup servers ?

so it would go like this,FBI cumma knocking, then its out with the nail gun, bang bang bang, drives be dead, smash, window be dead, thud, ur leg be dead after the 20 feet fall from teh window sill, and if u hear stop or i will shoot, then stop or you will hear bang bang and you be dead, all that over some pissy harddrives.

buy a hdd degausser instead :)

30 seconds and no need to run and play hide n seek :p
 
rig a claymore on the inside of the pc. open up the panel and BOOM! :D
 
Jason711 said:
how does one get thermite?

You don't...... If you are smart.

Thermite is actually just powered aluminum mixed with iron filings.
Cap it off with a layer of powered magnesium and add a magnesium sliver to act as an igniter.
Light the igniter with anyway you want - the nitrol coils for lighting model rocket engines would work nicely.

The stuff was actually developed for welding large castings in the shipping industry.
Like if you get a crack in the anchor of an aircraft carrier.

The burning aluminum produces the heat. The Iron acts as an oxidizer - and the moltent iron becomes steel through the high temps as it burns off the carbon.

The more iron you add, the better flow of moltent metal and the better weld in that large casting, to a point of course.

I'm sure the military and commercial producers of the stuff have come up with better oxidizers to increase the temps and burn time, but you could get everything to make it at a junk yard and at wally world.

Think lounge chair and a couple of hand files.

/Back on topic

I personally like the idea of doing a little creative drilling on the drive cases and my CPU heatsinks and ramsinks and press fitting the primers of shotgun shells or removing the bullet from a .22 long rifle round and pressfitting it into the holes.

Electrically. ignite them with the computers "Power On" button. Make the real power on something else, like the reset button or some cases still come with sleep buttons.

All you would hear from out side the case would be a few pops like capacitors popping off.
**shrug** "Old machine" says the geek.

Other than that, I'd make the computer look like an ancient 486/66 Compac.
5 1/4 floppy drives and all, and have an uber-modded out game machine next to it.

Guess which machine"THEY" would go for first?




 
These ideas are all far too complex. Give it a bath while it's spinning in liquid O2. Not only is liquid O2 magnetic, it will also oxidize (read FUCKING BURN) the magnetic pixie dust off the disk. Yeesh. Guaranteed to protect you from the Fascist Pigfuckers at 1600 PA Ave.
 
mwarps said:
These ideas are all far too complex. Give it a bath while it's spinning in liquid O2. Not only is liquid O2 magnetic, it will also oxidize (read FUCKING BURN) the magnetic pixie dust off the disk. Yeesh. Guaranteed to protect you from the Fascist Pigfuckers at 1600 PA Ave.

my idea was pretty simple.
 
mwarps said:
These ideas are all far too complex. Give it a bath while it's spinning in liquid O2. Not only is liquid O2 magnetic, it will also oxidize (read FUCKING BURN) the magnetic pixie dust off the disk. Yeesh. Guaranteed to protect you from the Fascist Pigfuckers at 1600 PA Ave.
And how would you propose keeping the LOX under temp so that you are not having to constantly replace it as it evaporates? That's certainly not going to be very simple (or inconspicuous). Your average freezer doesn't go down to -183 c.

 
OK so i'll give this a try.

First the case will be a full tower to start off with because it will contain a glass box at the bottom where the harddrive will operate from. Above the glass case will be a glass cylinder containing enough liquid to fill the glass box containing the harddrive below it to the top. The glass cylinder will contain a 38% concentration of HCL(Hydrochloric Acid). They will be glass because HCL won't go through Glass or Wax so either one is good. At the time of my escape I will hit a button to activate the transfer sequence from an IR Line of sight connection to an adjacent area or building which will pull all the data and send it to a back up harddrive.

Since i know they are coming and i'm making my escape i'll have time to do the transfer. The button to start the transfer will also activate a sensor on the door so that the next time the door is opened. (Should they get into the room quicker than the transfer takes) The liquid from above will fire a small hammer braeking the glass pouring the liquid down. Melting the HD in a few minutes. There will be a warning on the screen not to touch the computer as there is a corrisve agent that will severly hurt them. Making them scared to touch till they find out, what it is. And giving the HD time to be destroyed. Although at a 38% concentration it won't take long anyway.
 
Because HCL at higher concentrations is feasable it is very hard to contain because it turns into a gas, and or eats through just about everything very rapidly. At 38% it can just sit there and not harm me as well.
 
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