[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Author Index (this month)][Thread Index (this month)][Top of Archive]

RE: Consequences of not really understanding

Subject: RE: Consequences of not really understanding
From: Stan Schwartz <stanz -at- cam -dot- org>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 09:58:54 -0500

Here in the UK, the Navy have such faith in the technology for wiping
hard drives that on one job I did in the 80s they paid to have the
drives smashed with a large hammer when the job was done :-)

Then what did they do to the content creators?

With the right software and patience, data can be recovered, intact, after three overwrites. The more regular the overwrite pattern (10101010... as opposed to something more 'random' like 28472849...) the easier it is to filter out. Information is also easier to recover from fragmented drives than unfragmented ones due to physical hysterisis of the read/write head seeking the center of the track (which it rarely does successfully). The weakened overwritten signals that result are reduced significantly but cannot be eliminated entirely. Techniques exist today to copy data by simple physical contact with the elderly disk or more 'Tom Clancy-like' techniques like field effect analysis.

I have seen enough data recovery to agree with physical destruction of the media. I would do the same today if given responsibility to destroy data. Regards,

s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Be a published author! iUniverse gives you: a high-quality paperback, a
custom cover design, and distribution to 25,000 retailers. And it's
affordable. Join our almost 10,000 published authors today.
http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: Consequences of not really understanding: From: Damien Braniff

Previous by Author: Re: On Avoiding Gender Bias
Next by Author: Re: Dvorak keyboard
Previous by Thread: RE: Consequences of not really understanding
Next by Thread: RE: Consequences of not really understanding

[Top of Archive] | [Author Index (this month)] | [Thread Index (this month)]

What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:

Sponsored Ads