wipe and journalling file systems (was Re: Deleting a Folder)
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On 10/08/06 12:39, Pollywog wrote:
> On Sunday 08 October 2006 14:41, Richard wrote:
[snip]
> Have you looked into the 'wipe' utility?
> It won't work on journaled filesystems, though.
The shred(1)[0] man page states:
In the case of ext3 file systems, the above dis-
claimer applies (and shred is thus of limited
effectiveness) only in data=journal mode, which
journals file data in addition to just metadata.
In both the data=ordered (default) and data=write-
back modes, shred works as usual. Ext3 journaling
modes can be changed by adding the data=something
option to the mount options for a particular file
system in the /etc/fstab file, as documented in the
mount man page (man mount).
I'm sure that the same reasoning that says that shred(1) will shred
files on default ext3 mounts will also allow wipe to shred files.
Except, of course, modern hard drives do transparent sector
remapping, so even shredding an ext2 partition can't guarantee total
safety. I've Googled for the curie temperature of hard drive
platters, but have found only conflicting non-expert numbers.
Heating the media in a pottery kiln should suffice. A MAPP gas
hand-held blow-torch (5300F, 2930C) should also do the trick.
[0] shred is in coreutils.
- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA USA
Is "common sense" really valid?
For example, it is "common sense" to white-power racists that
whites are superior to blacks, and that those with brown skins
are mud people.
However, that "common sense" is obviously wrong.
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