![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
secure hdd data destruction
- Thread starter bobstone
- Start date
Are you operating under any regulatory requirements? What kind of sensitive data are you working with ( patient, credit card, employee, ect... )?
How secure do you need? For $500 you aren't going to get a crusher, shredder, or degausser. This is fairly cheap compared to other options, http://www.datadev.com/destroyer-0100-hd-crusher.html.
we are sposed to match DOD standards from what I am being told.
I am confused at the price of that crusher, I can get a 6 ton press at 100 dollars and I can get a 20 ton press for less then 400.
on a side note the guys looked at the press and laughingly said NO. I am not sure if I could talk them in to a press option.
any other ideas? I am starting to think that the only affordable option is grab an old pc and just install controller cards and use a software to zero out the drives. however I am still hoping for a quicker way to handle a large amount of hdd's.
Thanks
I am confused at the price of that crusher, I can get a 6 ton press at 100 dollars and I can get a 20 ton press for less then 400.
on a side note the guys looked at the press and laughingly said NO. I am not sure if I could talk them in to a press option.
any other ideas? I am starting to think that the only affordable option is grab an old pc and just install controller cards and use a software to zero out the drives. however I am still hoping for a quicker way to handle a large amount of hdd's.
Thanks
would this hand held deguasser work?
$500 would get you just over 100lbs of Tannerite. Thats enough bang to make a HDD unrecoverable.
If you're looking for a less fun way to make it unradable, take the cover off and go at the platters with an angle grinder. For added protection, melt down whatever is left of the platters.
while it would be cool, and I admit that it would work, I need to do it in a "office" in a "Professional manner" that my bosses would accept as sop.
beersykins
n00b
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2012
- Messages
- 47
You could rewrite the data a couple of times and then physically damage the drive.
The drives they sell at the Virginia Tech surplus auctions always have holes drilled through them..
The drives they sell at the Virginia Tech surplus auctions always have holes drilled through them..
If using a program to zero out the drive (I use the open source Eraser at home) and drilling a hole through the drive/platters isn't enough, then a press is likely the only way to go.
Are you looking for something you can do yourself in the office, or would a service be acceptable? Does your company use a paper shredding service? They may also offer hard drive destruction.
Are you looking for something you can do yourself in the office, or would a service be acceptable? Does your company use a paper shredding service? They may also offer hard drive destruction.
Tannerite works great for blowing up hard drives. Surrounded a jar of Tannerite with hard drives. Biggest piece we found was the size of my thumb
If DoD standards are your goal, then you need to consider farming that task out to a DoD-certified company. They will travel to your site, catalog, drill out the spindles, photograph, and take care of destroying and disposing/recycling the rest of the drive offsite.
(The last point regarding disposal/haul-away has not been mentioned yet, and needs to be considered as a requirement.)
(The last point regarding disposal/haul-away has not been mentioned yet, and needs to be considered as a requirement.)
Reading DoD 5220.22-M might help. I looked at it but did not read it. If it was done in house the paperwork would be the big issue at the end. If you did crush I would take a attach a picture of each hard drive after showing the serial number after crushing. Other wise it could be hard to show that it was done.
I set my drives on there side and drill 2 holes in them. I have used bleach as it causes the metal to oxidize faster; will rust the inside in about a week. I have also filled the hard drives with with a 2 part epoxy resin. A few years back I had a few sliced, put a brass plat on it with my company info and send them out as paper weights to all my clients. I do not know why, but most of them still have them in there office.
I set my drives on there side and drill 2 holes in them. I have used bleach as it causes the metal to oxidize faster; will rust the inside in about a week. I have also filled the hard drives with with a 2 part epoxy resin. A few years back I had a few sliced, put a brass plat on it with my company info and send them out as paper weights to all my clients. I do not know why, but most of them still have them in there office.
This.
+1, This, ReThis
A single pass of 1's or 0's will undeniably absolutely destroy data on a hard drive with zero chance of recovery.
on the other hand that is boring...
I like to take my old hard drives out to the woods and hit them with a .308 round and see how many pieces they fly into.
You can spend $500 or you can spend a few hours and a $1.00 rifle cartridge and one heck of a metallic mess to cleanup afterwards haha
on the other hand that is boring...
I like to take my old hard drives out to the woods and hit them with a .308 round and see how many pieces they fly into.
You can spend $500 or you can spend a few hours and a $1.00 rifle cartridge and one heck of a metallic mess to cleanup afterwards haha
No it won't.
If you need DOD spec, then either take a look at another company to do it for you, or get a good drill bit, and put about 5 or 6 holes round the core, and one right in the middle of it for good measure. Might want to take a look at a drill press to make it easier for you as well. Plus, that would be safer then just using a hand drill.
I wouldn't bother drilling holes in the platters, this is quicker if you don't hit the spindle hub and they're less than $75 at www.harborfreight.com :
Maybe even build a small smelting furnace if you want to be thorough.
Maybe even build a small smelting furnace if you want to be thorough.
so after reading DoD 5220.22-M and the sanitization matrix it looks like the only requirement is to use a government degausser.
Nicklebon
Gawd
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 990
The last time I had a large number, about 100, of drives to destroy I used an axe. It took about and hour and once I was done no platter was in less than 4 pieces and and those pieces were deformed and had the coatings flaking off. It was a huge mess but I am certain the data was unrecoverable. The plus side is I had a decent workout and ended up with a good many incredibly strongly magnets.
Sounds like corporate. "We need you to physically destroy this machine, but you need to do it on-site, cleanly, and in an office environment."
"Oh sure, let me just fire up my disintegration ray gun".
Just use a Zat'nik'tel and shoot a stack of hard drives 3 times
We had a stack of LTO tapes that had to be destroyed. We ended up using a company to crush them for us. It was about 1.5 cents of pound for getting them destroyed.
jeffmoss26
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2002
- Messages
- 2,267
An arbor press and a very strong coworker did this.
If you are looking for certified data destruction, look into paper shredding companies around you. There are a few by me in Michigan that do HDD destruction for the Government. They reduce the hard-drives to shards of metal right in front of you for a few bucks a drive. Then they give you a certificate of destruction, and that is that. ZERO chance of getting the data back, ever.
Ive done specialized destruction in the past and we would remove the platters on "important" HDDs then we would pulverize the platters a grinder type apparatus. We would then chip up the control boards from the HDDs. We had to have a chain of custody on all HDDs, so it was a right pain.
You cant always trust tools like DBAN or BCwipe if the HDD has a operational issue.
It really depends on how important the data is and how many you have to destroy.
For way less then 500, you can build a physical destruction box using a 12 ton bottle jack, a wedge and some steel plates welded together.
Or stick to software if you know the HDDs are good.
You cant always trust tools like DBAN or BCwipe if the HDD has a operational issue.
It really depends on how important the data is and how many you have to destroy.
For way less then 500, you can build a physical destruction box using a 12 ton bottle jack, a wedge and some steel plates welded together.
Or stick to software if you know the HDDs are good.
Last edited: