As years go by, technology is constantly improving thus a need for improvements on our side is also necessary. Do you know that our identities are vulnerable? In these times, our identities are very vulnerable to identity thieves because we rely on the use of computers in our daily task. We use it to shop, communicate with friends, relatives and families, or send confidential mail to someone. What do these have in common? All the information stay saved in a hard disk.
How can someone steal a hard disk?
Thieves do not barge into somebody's home to get the hard disk that is securely attached in your computer. They wait at the right time. The right time is when we send the HDD for repair, sell, donate, or throw away the disk.
If you know how to format HDDs, you might have thought that this is enough to remove all your files. You thought wrong.
The truth is, it is not permanently removed.
A common misconception is data disappears in a hard drive permanently the moment you said you want to remove it. What the HDD actually do is that it removes the pointer or index of the file when you delete it in your computer. By erasing the pointer file, we make the actual file invisible to the operating system. Data will be permanently gone only if the new data overwrite the location of the old data.
There are several hard drive utilities you can find online which recovers deleted files, most are free yet very effective tool. What these software do is it looks for a file that does not have a pointer information then show it to you. The longer you wait before you recover the file, the lower the chance that the file is 100% intact.
That is why a simple format will not make the files disappear permanently in the hard drive.
How Can We Erase Data Permanently
If we can recover, we can also make the files disappear for good. Here are some methods:
Software Wiping
In this method, we use a tool that are free to download online or buy a paid software. Both kind of software have its advantages and disadvantages but these are the best tools in removing the actual files.
A popular free software is DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke). It is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes most hard disks. It automatically deletes all the contents of hard disks that it can detect, perfect for bulk or emergency data destruction.
Norton utilities is a paid software that comes as a package for all the computer needs. The wiping tool called Disk Cleaner wipes data by overwriting the free space in several passes. It is perfect if you want to just remove the data you've deleted on that day and not remove the data of the drive. Norton Utilities costs $49.99.
Disk Degaussing
Degaussing, a process known to eliminate any unwanted magnetic field can also be used in a HDD.
Hard drives cannot store information for long periods of time even when it is not turned on if the disks are not magnetized.
A hard drive has a disk-like component inside called the platters; it is where all your files are stored. The platter has a magnetic surface to help read and write data.
The magnetic surface of the platters divide into magnetic regions. Each of the region comprises a single binary unit of information. The magnetic layer is a cobalt-based alloy.
If we degauss a hard disk, the disk exposes to a magnet two times the magnetism of the drive has. When successful, the magnetic regions of the drive flies in random places therefore each binary unit of region cannot represent any files anymore.
Older drives that undergo HDD degaussing will leave the drive in its factory state. Newer drives on the other hand, has a servo, a micro-controller that controls the HDDs performance. It is prone to being degaussed therefore if the data in the servo disappears, the hard drive is nothing but a piece of trash.
So remember to do HDD degaussing only if the disk is damaged. Moreover, the price of degaussing machine is very expensive and companies offering degaussing has a very expensive service fee too.
Hard Disk Destruction
Hard disk destruction is a process where the disk itself is permanently destroyed thus no computer, or forensic expert has the skill in recovering a shattered platter, drive sliced into two, or a burned disk.
There are two options to destroy the drive:
Hard drive destruction from hard disk destruction services. Since owning a hard disk destruction machine is very expensive and is not a practical tool to use on less than a hundred drive, opting for hard drive destruction service can do the same task for a small fee. There are various kinds of hard disk destruction machines:
Crusher - This machine puts a ton of weight on the hard disk, focusing on the platters thereby creating ripples and cracks which even a forensic expert cannot recover.
Hard Disk Folder - This machine is powerful enough to fold hard disks as if it were a paper. Not only that it cannot spin, but also no human can unfold it like what anyone can do on a paper.
Disk Shredder - If you have seen paper shredders before, think of hard disk shredder as a very large paper shredder capable of turning hard disks into thousands of unrecoverable pieces.
Keep in mind that hard disk destruction services are very expensive particularly if you want to destroy one hard disk drive. The method is very effective if you want to destroy hundred disks in a short amount of time.
If you have fewer than 20 disks you can do manual disk destruction method.
Manual Hard Disk Destruction
Manual hard disk destruction is the use of tools available in our homes to destroy a drive physically. Tools like a hammer, saw or machine operated tools can do as long as it can destroy the disk platters. Your goal is to destroy the platters of the drive.
This is a fun and very cheap method to destroy a hard disk drive.
With these methods, you are sure that your data are gone for good. Pick whatever suits you and remember to do this every time you saved an important file(software wipe), donate, sell, (boot and nuke) or throw away a disk (hard disk destruction).
