Re: [tlug] How to wipe disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (was formatting HDD leaves 11.7 GB untouched

[Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>]

On Mon, 9 Dec 2019 at 03:47, dblomber@example.com <dblomber@example.com> wrote:

> On 2019-12-07 9:02 AM, jep200404@example.com wrote:
> > On Mon, 2 Dec 2019 10:48:19 +0900, Thomas Blasejewicz <nyuwa@example.com> wrote:
> >
> >> How can I wipe the disk ENTIRELY clean?
> >      sudo dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M of=/dev/sdz
>
> For normal use that may be enough, but is not terribly secure by itself.
> I would use /dev/urandom and three passes. This can take a long time and
> if not sensative info the /dev/zero will be quick and good enough for
> most your needs.

For truly sensitive data, open the drive and destroy the platters or
memory chips with a hammer. I'm not even kidding.

The military has special shredders that they feed old hard drives
into; basically a wood chipper designed for metal.

Cheers,
Josh