secure file wipe

[warmongr]

Is there a utility like BCWipe for cleansing a disk of classified files for UNIX/Linux/IRIX etc.<br><br>war...

 

[hnd]

If you have PGP installed use the wiper function from there.<br><br>The other way is write an own C-Program. There is a special algorithm required that has been published (NCSA ? ) which writes special Bit patterns to the file before deleting it. <p>hnd<br><a href=mailto:hasso55@yahoo.com>hasso55@yahoo.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[pegg]

For Unix and derivatives, try Unishred Pro (Los Alamos Technologies). Not sure on the cost. Hope this helps.

 

[warmongr]

The problem with UNIShred PRO is the cost and licensing. Also at last check it was not OS independent. In otherwords it would not work with certain OS's. I'm not sure about UNISHRED pro's ability to wack a single file. I believe it is for entire hard drives but I could be wrong.

There is a UNIX program call WIPE however even the documenation states that it is not always 100%.

Thanks for the input.

war...

 

[Alt255]

Warmongr, I don't mean to seem flippant here but I have been lead to believe that the only truly secure way to wipe the data on a hard drive is best accomplished with a sledgehammer and a metal shredder.

With the price of hard drives hitting an all-time low this solution has finally become a cost-effective alternative. (IT just installed a 40gb drive on one of my machines for $160, the drive it replaced went in the trash.)

Why take chances with software that may or not provide a 100% solution? Try the method that works on every platform.

 

[warmongr]

Flippant? No, you are touting what we would all like to believe. And in most cases your correct. However, I work in a R&D environment and we constantly tear machines down and rebuild them. Sometimes all the way across the globe. In many cases we are working with old proprietary equipment were a 4Gb SCSI hard drive costs in the neighborhood of 800 - 1000.00 dollars to replace. There are a thousand other examples however suffice it to say that there is a requirement for a secure wipe. Believe me I would love to smash hard drives with sledgehammers. It would be thereputic, however, I need to be realistic and find ways to reduce costs.

Thanks for your input.

war...

 

[Alt255]

War, don't you have a programmer on your team who could write a custom application to suit your needs?

It seems like it would be a fairly easy task overwite files or disk sectors to meet current security standards. I haven't played with the notion since DoD 5220.22-M in the early '90s (the standard wasn't too secure since it only required three sets of writes: 1's followed by 0's and then a verified write of 2's)

My concept of a software sledgehammer would involve a low-level format, followed by high level format using a different file system, followed by repeated overwites of each disk sector using 255 bit patterns, followed by another low-level format and a high-level format to return the disk to its original file system. Perhaps a bit excessive, but anybody who has used recovery packages such as Lost and Found is aware that old data can be very hard to permanently delete.

 

[warmongr]

Alt...

Getting back to the original problem. A secure wiping utility that would securely erase a single file from an existing xNIX platform like the BCWipe utility under Billdoze. I currently use gdisk from Symantec to do a 5220.22 gov disk wipe on any size hard drive SCSI or IDE from a single command line. It is really good and good to see a decent product/utility come from Peter Norton's toolbox again. (Is System Works a virus?)

We do have developers that could probably write such a utility. The problem, I believe, would be getting DOD or rather DSS to get it approved before I retire. I went to a class not to long ago and they are still promoting the same tools that were useful when 80Mb hard drives were the in thing.

war...


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