Entries Tagged as ‘NSA’

September 19, 2007

Securely erase individual files

As I might have previously mentioned1) 2), pressing “delete” in Windows (or on Linux or Macs) does not remove the file from the hard drive. The only thing that happens is that in the big list of files, the entry for that file is removed, so that the operating system knows that if it wants [...]

September 12, 2007

Securely erase hard drives

In a previous post I wrote about disk wiping tools. If you haven’t read that article, I suggest reading it before reading this one. Also, this article is written with the assumption that the reader has a fair amount of technical knowledge.
The reasons for wanting to wipe a hard disk drive are many:

You might expect a visit [...]

June 20, 2007

Can God Create a Rock So Heavy Even He Can’t Lift It?

Relax, this hasn’t turned into a religious blog, I’m simply drawing a parallel to one of the best data recovery companies out there, Norwegian Ibas. Ibas are experts on recovering lost or hidden data. And it’s amazing how often they succeed. Take a look at this charred wreck of a burnt PC1):
 
On this particular PC [...]

June 19, 2007

Why Skype is Evil™

So, you’re a security-minded individual who uses a HW firewall, a client firewall, antivirus SW and anti-spyware SW to protect yourself, your computer and your privacy. Great! Now you’ve found a great way to communicate with your friends and family in a secure fashion: Skype! Well, let’s take a deep breath and have a closer [...]