Physically destroying hard drive data

C

control_z

I have a bunch of old obsolete hard drives with somewhat sensitive
information on them I want to physically destroy and put in the
landfill.

Would shooting a couple .30 cal bullets through the hard drives
(being sure to penetrate the platters rather than just the outside
edges) prevent black hat hackers from recovering the data? I'd imagine
some 3-letter government agency could recover some of the data by
working on the holy platters, but I'm not worried about that, just
about CC numbers and stuff.
 
O

Odie Ferrous

I have a bunch of old obsolete hard drives with somewhat sensitive
information on them I want to physically destroy and put in the
landfill.

Would shooting a couple .30 cal bullets through the hard drives
(being sure to penetrate the platters rather than just the outside
edges) prevent black hat hackers from recovering the data? I'd imagine
some 3-letter government agency could recover some of the data by
working on the holy platters, but I'm not worried about that, just
about CC numbers and stuff.

Just strip the drive and smash the platters with a heavy hammer.

Then dissolve the platters in acid.

I hate to admit it, but even I could not recover these.


Odie
 
I

Impmon

Just strip the drive and smash the platters with a heavy hammer.

Then dissolve the platters in acid.

I hate to admit it, but even I could not recover these.

I agree. With the right tools (usually tiny Torx bits) any hard
drives can be dismantled to the platters. And for cheap acid, get a 2
liter Coke and soak the platters in it for a few days or so. The acid
there are known to eat a nail away in a day.

Failing that if you live on a large property or know someone who does,
bury the platters in random location. A farm would help a lot, just
toss 'em under the plow as you drive the tractor along. ^_^
 
R

Rod Speed

I have a bunch of old obsolete hard drives with somewhat sensitive
information on them I want to physically destroy and put in the landfill.

Would shooting a couple .30 cal bullets through the hard drives
(being sure to penetrate the platters rather than just the outside
edges) prevent black hat hackers from recovering the data? I'd
imagine some 3-letter government agency could recover some
of the data by working on the holy platters, but I'm not worried
about that, just about CC numbers and stuff.

Mindless paranoia, any decent security wipe will be fine.
 
C

control_z

The question is, can anything be done with warped platters with a
bullet hole through them? Is there some sort of hand-held tool that
would read any remaining data even if the platter couldn't be spun?
 
C

control_z

I know security wipes will work, but it's a lot of hard drives. Some
are IDE, some are SCSI, plus it takes hours to securely wipe each one.
 
C

CWatters

I know security wipes will work, but it's a lot of hard drives. Some
are IDE, some are SCSI, plus it takes hours to securely wipe each one.

Turn the drives upside down and give one good wack with a 3lb hammer. I bet
you could one every two seconds. Ya can't reload that fast.
 
C

CWatters

The question is, can anything be done with warped platters with a
bullet hole through them? Is there some sort of hand-held tool that
would read any remaining data even if the platter couldn't be spun?

No. You would have to use some kind of electron(?) microscope to image the
drive.
 
I

Impmon

The question is, can anything be done with warped platters with a
bullet hole through them? Is there some sort of hand-held tool that
would read any remaining data even if the platter couldn't be spun?

Electron Scanning Microscope can still read the magnetic )'s and 1's
on the unblemished surface. Even if the platter's badly warped and
full of holes, enough data would survive for the most determined party
to read your disks and reconstruct incriminating data.

Smashing them to pieces and dissolving them in acid makes the data
next to impossible to trace.

If you really are paranoid, buy a bunch of older hard drives (a single
lot of non working disks) off eBay and mix the platter remains
together. A lot of data that somehow survives the destruction
wouldn't be yours to begin with.
 
I

Irwin

You are worrying way too much about protecting your credit card
numbers. Everyone waitress, gas station operator, and probably every
other bad guy on earth already has your numbers, they just haven't
gotten around to using them yet. So if that is all you are worrying
about, just smash 'em up and drive on.

Cheers
 
V

vr4003

A colleague of mine does some contract work for the Dept. of Defence. A
while ago they had to dispose of some high security PCs, DoD required
them to chop the drives up with an axe, not sure what they had to do
with the chopped remains.
My idea would be, if you could get access to each platter, hit them
with an orbital sander until all the coating is gone, then chop the
platters up with an axe.
 
J

J. Clarke

Impmon said:
Electron Scanning Microscope can still read the magnetic )'s and 1's
on the unblemished surface.

Actually, SEM would probably wipe the drive real good. The tool that reads
the numbers atom by atom is a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope. And it is
most assuredly _not_ "some sort of hand held tool".
Even if the platter's badly warped and
full of holes, enough data would survive for the most determined party
to read your disks and reconstruct incriminating data.

Smashing them to pieces and dissolving them in acid makes the data
next to impossible to trace.

If you're that paranoid, melt them down in an induction furnace--you get a
double-whammy, high intensity oscillating magnetic field and they're
physically melted into slag. _Nobody_ is going to recover that.
 
A

Arno Wagner

Previously said:
I have a bunch of old obsolete hard drives with somewhat sensitive
information on them I want to physically destroy and put in the
landfill.
Would shooting a couple .30 cal bullets through the hard drives
(being sure to penetrate the platters rather than just the outside
edges) prevent black hat hackers from recovering the data? I'd imagine
some 3-letter government agency could recover some of the data by
working on the holy platters, but I'm not worried about that, just
about CC numbers and stuff.

Far easier: Open the HDD, remove the platters and just bend them.
That makes it already extremely expensive and maybe impossible
for most practical purposes to recover anything.

If you are worried enough you can also blowtorch the platters, which
makes recovery completely impossible (in the physically strong sense),
since above a certain temperature the magnetisation is completely and
irretrivably lost.

Not opening the disk is risky, since you actually may fail to damage
all platters, even with the .30 bullets.

Arno
 
O

Odie Ferrous

Arno said:
So you could recover if the acid is left out? ;-)=)

Arno

Bit of superglue, then sand the platters smooth so the heads don't catch
on the superglue overflow, and Bob's your auntie!


Odie
 
J

J. Clarke

Arno said:
Far easier: Open the HDD, remove the platters and just bend them.
That makes it already extremely expensive and maybe impossible
for most practical purposes to recover anything.

If you are worried enough you can also blowtorch the platters, which
makes recovery completely impossible (in the physically strong sense),
since above a certain temperature the magnetisation is completely and
irretrivably lost.

Not opening the disk is risky, since you actually may fail to damage
all platters, even with the .30 bullets.

If there's a hole in the top of the drive and a hole in the bottom, it's a
fair bet that all platters have been damaged.

I'd be very surprised if any .30 caliber firearm on the market was incapable
of penetrating completely through a disk drive.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top