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Wipe dead HS

J

john_ct

n00b
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
2
My PC died this weekend. The PS took out everything. One western digital drive is still under warranty but I have doubts about sending it in for RMA since my PST file from outlook was on that drive. It seems to me that only the PCB is dead and I worry about them accessing my data.
Anyway to clear the drive? Maybe surrounding it with magnets from other drives??
 
You really really really think they give a shit and beyond that even have the man power check whats on every drive that comes in?

Guarantee any drive that comes in is thrown in a bin and a new drive is immediately sent out.

Furthermore, if your shit is that important then it should have been encrypted. So unless your drive contains patient health information or top secret government secrets, send it on its way.
 
There is no way you can generate the required magnetic fields at home. If you have such valuable data that it should not get into the wrong hands it is possibly worth the price of a single HDD.
 
I have this years TurboTax installed on that drive with all my tax info. After I submit my taxes I remove the program along with the return. This happened before I could submit my return.
 
Use small torx screw drivers. Disassemble the drive. Take out the platters. Smash the platters. Place shards in garbage. Really worried? Place individual shards in widely separated garbage cans over a period of different days. Rent a boat. Drop some shards into the Gulf Stream.

Theoretically, your data could be reconstructed from the shards. However, the expense of doing so would, in all likelihood, exceed the value of the data. If you're concerned about a rational actor gaining your data, the cost/benefit ratio should preclude that from occurring.

If you're concerned about a non-rational actor undertaking a Manhatten Project level of effort to rebuild your data from the geographically dispersed drive shards, then there are bigger issues at play.
 
If you're RMA'ing the drive I'm not too sure they'd be happy with damaging/destroying the drive further than your claim when returning it. Just saying. Check with them on what is ok and what isn't ok to do to meet the warranty before doing anything physically. Magnetic wiping is probably the easiest and safest to avoid return hassles.

Most likely they'll just plug it in, see if it powers up or goes through post, if not bin it and destroy it as it has no use in any condition other than working.

If you're really paranoid ask them about the process for destruction of your data when you return it. By law they have to take precautions to protect sensitive information from third-party individuals.
 
Ahh, "RMA": I thought the OP was concerned only with disposing of a hard drive. :)
 
john_ct said:
I have this years TurboTax installed on that drive with all my tax info. After I submit my taxes I remove the program along with the return. This happened before I could submit my return.
Click to expand...

......and again I ask.

What makes you think that out of all the drives they receive they will care whats on yours?
 
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If you're concerned about the data being read then you should eat the cost of the hard drive and buy a new one. Drive manufacturers could choose to scan platters, but given exorbitant costs involved in data recovery, chances are the manufacturer will not do this unless by some odd chance a government agency supplies them with an updated watchlist to red flag RMA submissions for specific individuals/organizations.

If you're super paranoid, next time use full disk encryption to encrypt the entire drive and the filesystem before you put sensitive data on the drive. Different OS have different applications that can do this. Truecrypt (windows), Bitlocker (windows), Filevault (MacOSX), dmcrypt (linux) are utilities which can be used for full disk encryption.

Encrypted data can only be decrypted/accessed when power is applied to the device and a key is supplied. When the device is powered down, data remains encrypted. If your device fails data on the device would be inaccessible (encrypted) and also appear as random data.
 
omniscence said:
There is no way you can generate the required magnetic fields at home. If you have such valuable data that it should not get into the wrong hands it is possibly worth the price of a single HDD.
Click to expand...

Do a search and you'll find many products. Hard drive degaussers do exist but they are cost prohibitive (thousands of dollars) and thus not affordable for most hobbyists .
 
If you really don't want to take the chance of them seeing your porn.. sorry, tax data, you are better off taking the hit for cost of a new drive. Where do you think refurbished drives come from? If the HBA is good, they may replace the board and do a quick wipe of the data but who know how good of a wipe. I just got a Hitachi drive back from RMA and just for grins I ran a surface scan recovery program just to see if Hitachi wipes the HBAs. It seems either they do a full wipe or I got a brand new HBA because I found nothing. Just know there are people out there who will look for your data... Muhahahahahaha!!!!

Paranoid yet?
 
Encryption not only helps when disks get stolen. RMA is another case where it gives you peace of mind.

That doesn't help you now, so you might ask them if they have any special procedures for disks with sensitive data. I remember some HDD vendors taking back only the cover plate of damaged disks and giving you an exchange disk for it. Times might have changed, though.
 
What you describe looks like what a vendor might do for expensive enterprise disks, not consumer ones, where they definitely want the disk back, and a "good looking" disk at that. If it's burned or has other damage not caused by a defect, they won't accept it.
 
1010 said:
Do a search and you'll find many products. Hard drive degaussers do exist but they are cost prohibitive (thousands of dollars) and thus not affordable for most hobbyists .
Click to expand...

Well yes, it is possible to buy specialized equipment, but this would difinitely exceed the cost of a new harddisk. I was arguing in the direction of equipment that could be available to the OP. Further, degaussing a modern harddisk will destroy not only the media but also the mechanics and electronics of the heads permanently as far as I know. At that point you could just disassemble the drive and shred or burn the platters. Unless he knows someone with a degausser the cost of that service would exceed a new harddrive.
 
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Old Hippie said:
Another paranoia junkie. LOL!

Dude, nobody cares.
Click to expand...

I know it's chic to be all ignorant and that, but nobody cares about your Idiocracy-style opinion either.

For all we know, the guy might handle YOUR data in his e-mails.
 
TCM said:
I know it's chic to be all ignorant and that, but nobody cares about your Idiocracy-style opinion either.

For all we know, the guy might handle YOUR data in his e-mails.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter who reads my emails and nobody at the repair center has time or cares about your/my info.

And I really don't care if you like my writing style. :)
 
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