speeding up hard drive wipe

[Chris Luck]

On 26/09/2020 20:45, Ralf Mardorf via ubuntu-users wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Sep 2020 15:07:01 -0400, Ken D'Ambrosio wrote:
>> Citation, please.
> 
> There might be no proof, but it's reasonable and not just another 
> idiotic conspiracy theory.
> 
> Users unlikely need to worry about this:
> 
> "A technique called  Magnetic  Force  Microscopy  (MFM)  allows  any 
> moderately  funded  opponent  to  recover  the last two or three 
> layers of data written to disk"
<snip>

     15-odd years ago I was pulling out a hard drive from an old pc just 
to study it's innards and extract any re-usable parts more than for any
security issue.  I unscrewed the covers, disregarding the "Fate worse
than death" stickers, to find multi-layered discs which were very easy
to pull from the spindle with a small pair of long-nosed pliers applied
at the rim.
     I was intrigued by the very light weight of the discs and how easily
they could be folded in two, then four and - with a bit of help from
heavier electricians pliers - eight.  "Get data off that!" - I muttered
as I threw them in the bin.

The interesting extra was a ferociously powerful magnet assembly (mind
your fingers).

I suspect that any practical recovery technique requires an intact
functional drive or at least a disc assembly that could be transferred
to a functional drive.

-- 
Regards,
Chris Luck