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Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 3485
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 8:28 pm: | 
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http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/06/one_year_ago_ha.html
I know the feeling, well at least being the one finding others info on hard drives.
Boy oh boy some of the stuff I've found.... |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 3486
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 8:58 pm: |
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As it turns out I was just telling a story about this iMac I bought for $25 (have you seen the price, or ridiculous price, of the iMac for sale in the classifieds) off of eBay.
Turns out that it was from a school in CT and it still has some apps on it that would be great for my daughter who was in 4th grade at the time.
Using file recovery tools it turns out that they were using it to serve there web page as well, not to mention that somebody had some personal banking info on it that I was able to recover also.
This is the school, http://www.fairfield.k12.ct.us/sherman/index.htm
I spoke about this on another forum I visit and ended up getting a reply post from an IT guy at the school, it's below.
Quote:
Hello,
I work for IT department at Fairfield Public Schools. It sounds like you may have one of our old machines. We believe that this may have been either a machine stolen from a location or resold by a disposal company, who assured us that the computers would be destroyed not resold. We are very concered about both the hardware, and more importanly, the software licensing issues.
If you could help us track down the seller we would appreciate it. Any other information you could give us would also be very helpful. The serial number and our asset tag number would be very important to us. Our asset tag is a small white label with a barcode and the number is proceeded by the letters IT. This might have been removed by the seller.
We will not ask for the computer back. We just want whatever information you could provide to us about the computer and seller. In exchange we will give you any help trouble shooting the machine if turns out to one of our old ones.
Please email directly cbrand@fairfield.k12.ct.us.
Thank you,
Chris Brand
Fairfield Public Schools
IT Dept.
After having talked with the IT guy in CT, I ended up getting a call from the company that sold the iMac on eBay, they seemed pretty concerned, and really wanted to get the iMac back.
I told them they had to give me one of comparable value or better if they wanted it back, so I ended up driving halfway to their place to make a clandestine iMac swap in the Cheesequake Rest Area parking lot, got one a little better.
Never did hear what happened after that.
I also bought an old Mac at a garage sale on Mayhew drive in South Orange a few years ago, the women's daughter used it in college, besides the usual school work that was on the drive, there were also credit card numbers, SS numbers, email, etc. It was basically a pretty damn good electronic journal of this young ladies life while away at college.
I picked up a couple of computers once during rummage day that the owners had given up in, I think they must have sat on the floor in a flooded basement, one didn't work but the other did, and so did the monitor (which I still have), the hard drives had tons of porn on it, and quite a lot of illegal software, and of course personal info.
What do I do with all this info you may wonder....
okay, don't wonder, I make sure that it gets erased properly, and I never get rid of an intact hard drive, I usually take them apart, use the magnets out of them, the platters, whatever, and throw the cases away.
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Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 522
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 9:43 pm: |
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Ouch....I just dumped my old computer at the SO dump during their last cleanup.
Do you know of anybody who could fix my desk top for a reasonable price. I was "fixed" by a friend of a friend and now I can't get it back online... |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23275
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 9:56 pm: |
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That is not just an ouch - it's a full-blown scandal.
It is outrageous (ouchrageous?) that there are not laws governing the SECURITY OF ONLINE IDENTITY BY EDUCATING COMPUTER USERS ON HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THEIR CHILDREN and in my mind this information (and support) should be mandatory classroom material: in support groups, on community message boards, and everywhere else content material may be harmful to children (sorry Rosses!).
Free computer training should a constitutional right for every citizen in this country, in my opinion.
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bella
Citizen
Username: Bella
Post Number: 590
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 11:49 pm: |
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okay, so I bought a new computer and now my old one is just sitting here. What do you guys suggest I do with it? It has old Turbo Tax files, Word docs, etc. Both HP and Dell offer recycling/donation programs, but they both clearly state that it is the donating party's responsibility to clean up the hard drive. Should I just delete the files? Won't they still exist on some level (oh, yeah, I've been watching too much Law & Order)? |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9751
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 12:10 am: |
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When it came time to get rid of my first laptop (an Everex LX20, which used a 20MB hard drive and ran Windows 3.1) I removed the drive and used a hammer, a screw driver and assorted other hardware to render the disk into a non-useful metallic mass. |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23281
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 12:27 am: |
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After having spent 15+ minutes trying to post the perfect response: I defer to Dave.
Smash it or sear it with a magnet.
That is all.
Except (I should add) that identity theft is a scary, rampant condition. Ruinous. |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 3492
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 12:38 am: |
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You could always use it to back up files, a music server, etc.
You could zero out the drive about 8 times, that should be good enough for most attempts to get data, or check out KillDisk.
You would have to have a pretty powerful electromagnet to do any good.
Drilling holes through the platter is good too, along with smashing them with a hammer, bending and breaking, melting.... |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23282
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 12:52 am: |
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We had an enormous magnet that required AC/DC power to operate. It was used 10 years ago to batch-slap disks into "erasure." There was a brief scare last March when a new student found it and brought it into my office completely unaware of its potency. Needless to say, it's out of circulation.
Electromagnetism was the correct answer, sir. |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 3493
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 1:01 am: |
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you could have had some fun with that thing |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23283
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 1:05 am: |
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I didn't say it was gone, did I?
Geez-Louise! |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5310
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 7:53 pm: |
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What if you put the hard drive on a chair in the same room as a MRI machine? Would the magnet from the machine destroy the hard drive? Last year when I was having the problems I was with my computer it was determined one of the problems was the hard driver. I made it very clear to the tech I wanted my old one back and even attempted to persuade them to take the hard drive out while I was standing there; which they wouldn't do.
When they finally returned my computer to me a couple of months later there was no hard drive. I asked where it was and they told me I don't get it back and it had been destroyed. After arguing with them for so or so minutes, my old hard drive suddenly showed up. |
us2inFL
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 1456
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 4:36 am: |
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I needed to get a Seagate HD replaced under warranty directly from the manufacturer. They assured me that if the drive is repairable and refurbished, it would be completely wiped clean of data.
I guess you have to trust what people tell you. Can anyone say "Chevrolet Corvair?" |
HOMMELL
Citizen
Username: Hommell
Post Number: 221
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 11:59 am: |
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Unsafe at any read/write speed. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14629
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 2:43 pm: |
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bella, I suggest what Dave said. Find the tools to open the hard drive. You may need a screwdriver or a torx bit. If you can't find a torx bit or can't open it for some other reason, try using a drill where the bolts go.
The goal is to get the platters out. There are several platters that are the size and shape of CD's. Once you get them out, smash them with hammers.
Once the platters are smashed, recovery of data is highly unlikely. There may be government agencies who can piece it back together. I say that only because we shouldn't underestimate what a motivated entity can do. But I don't think it's enough reason for concern once the platters are smashed.
JTA, I don't know if an MRI magnet is strong enough to erase a hard disk. I suppose a magnet strong enough would penetrate the magnetic shield of a hard disk case, but who knows if the MRI magnet is strong enough for that job?
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Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 3500
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 5:21 pm: |
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magnets used in MRI are extremely powerful; each magnet generates a magnetic field approximately 30,000 times stronger that the earth's background magnetism.
The strength of the magnets in an MRI is measured in a Tesla unit, 1 Tesla = 10,000 gauss.
MRI are in the 0.5-Tesla to 2.0-Tesla range, or 5,000 to 20,000 gauss
Or so says this article, there's some more good stuff on MRI's there too.
A hard drive degausser works at around and above 4000 Gauss, like this one that works at 4350 Gauss. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9805
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 5:27 pm: |
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us2inFL
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 1457
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 6:26 pm: |
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good on the pickup Hommell. |
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