Nuking hard drives

Don’t forget when you’re dumping an old PC or server, you need to wipe the data completely.

An interesting tool that was mentioned for that purpose over at ToaSecurity is Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN).  It’s apparently especially useful if you’re looking to nuke a drive using something like DoD compliance.   Put it on a floppy and off you go.

Darik’s Boot and Nuke (“DBAN”) is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.

Here’s a picture from ToaSecurity’s blog:

Remember, be extremely careful if using this tool.  One of its features is the ability to “bulk delete” hard drives…

Link here via ToaSecurity.

Alex Eckelberry