[lug] drive free space "wiper" recommendation

[Zan Lynx]

On 10/12/10 4:55 PM, Nate Duehr wrote:
>    On 10/12/2010 11:49 AM, Glenn Murray wrote:
>> 4.  Needlessly destroying hardware doesn't sit well with my green sensibilities.
>
> I have a small pile of 20G IDE drives. Useless.  Most recycling places
> won't take them for fear they'll be named in a data-loss lawsuit.
> They'll take the rest of the PC, but you must remove the drives and deal
> with them yourself.

The above is actually a good technique for protecting yourself from the 
government if you really worry about it.

Maintain a large stockpile of hard drives and USB keys and floppies and 
CDs. Keep them dusted and apparently usable. If you have time write 
random data to each device in a way that looks encrypted.

When they come for your data, make sure they take all of it. Point out 
the USB drives you have in the shape of stuffed animals and LEGOs. If 
you do it right they will have to search your entire LEGO collection for 
the three USB drives you have built into some old LEGO project out of 
your collection of 100,000 pieces of LEGO.  They will also have to 
disassemble every stuffed penguin and search each and every book in the 
house for micro SD cards. Point out the three you have sewn into the 
collars of your old shirts. Make sure they take the sock collection.

Done properly they will be forced to take as evidence nearly everything 
in your house. Searching the data will take years and cost them millions.

-- 
Zan Lynx
zlynx at acm.org

"Knowledge is Power.  Power Corrupts.  Study Hard.  Be Evil."