Re: The hammer is best

On 8/23/26 08:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 23/08/2026 12:55, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2026-08-23 11:14, Richard Kettlewell wrote:
>>> [email protected] (Kenny McCormack) writes:
>>>> Carlos E.R. <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> ...
>>>>>>    are hidden buffers plus the wear-leveling scheme
>>>>>>    gets in the way. You wipe 'em the Hillary Clinton
>>>>>>    way - HAMMER :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Instead, use encryption, on the device or the partitions.
>>>>
>>>> Hammer is better, because encryption can be worked around by holding a
>>>> gun to the head of the person who knows the encryption key.
>>>
>>> My backup drives are encrypted. In principle they could be stolen from
>>> here, from an offsite location or in transit and if that happens I won’t
>>> have the opportunity to destroy it.
>>
>> Exactly.
>>
>> And in the typical business case, hammering of disks is not often done. 
> 
> It is UNIVERSALLY done in the UK.
> Insurance will be voided, contracts lost  and people will get fired if 
> it is not.


   Ok, still SOME intelligence in the UK !  :-)


> The big sources of usable hardware are BIG corporates - banks, insurance 
> companies, travel agencies... they dump a thousand machines a year to 
> recycling companies who sign in blood that the disk will be CRUSHED.
> 
>> Hard disks are simply repurposed, recycled, sold... usually zeroing 
>> them first. Encryption protects the case when zeroing is forgotten, or 
>> the disk breaks before that. Encryption protects against such accidents.
>>
> No, they are not. Not by corporations. Some Mickey Mouse companies with 
> nothing worth stealing might...

   Physical destruction IS best. This can actually be
   as simple as a hammer or cold chisel. However the
   drill-press approach will also getcha there, esp if
   the drill also ruins the physical mechanism for
   read/write. Almost all drives these days have it in
   the SAME location.

   Good sharp half-inch drillbit ... TWO seconds to ruin
   the drive.

   Oh, while for a little while they made HDDs with glass
   platters, almost all are aluminum. Even a quarter-inch
   hole, followed by a small drop of toilet-cleaning
   hydrochloric acid (a pinch of salt added is even better)
   will absolutely ROT aluminum platters Real Quick. Used
   to keep a little vial of the brew.

   Anyway, unless you're the CIA or such, nobody is gonna
   disassemble yer old drives and try to run a "head on
   a stick" over them to try and recover bits of data.
   Defensive measures should be in proportion to the RISK.
   CIA probably MELTS the things. Joe's Garage does not
   need to - one good whack with a ball-peen will do it
   very nicely.