| Wipe hard drive clean or risk ID theft |
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If you really want your data gone, however, this is
not the route to take.
All you're doing is marking the information to be overwritten, says
Gibney.
File recovery programs can still find the original
documents, which makes reformatting efforts not much more effective
than "tossing files into the recycle bin."
For better protection, you'd have to overwrite the
files.
"The best practice is to wipe a hard drive before
reissuing a computer or donating it," Finnie says.
Heavy-duty purge:
The wipe program
Wipe programs essentially overwrite the original data with layers
of numbers or random characters, much like erasing a word and then
scribbling over it. Joan Feldman, president and founder of Computer
Forensics, says the most effective way to wipe is to overwrite files
three to seven times by covering them with a binary mask of ones
and zeroes.
Recovery software should not be able to restore original documents.
You can configure most wipe or file-shredding programs to overwrite the areas of the hard drive you want. For instance, you can direct it to wipe deleted files, unallocated space or the entire drive. That way, you could leave some programs operable for the next user, but still erase spreadsheets containing financial data.
Type the words "file shredding" or "file
wiping" into a Web search engine and you'll see many different
products -- some free, some not. Some sites offer free shareware
such as Jetico's
BCWipe while other products, such as Evidence
Eliminator, cost $150. The file-wiping program can also come
bundled with other software. Symantec's
Norton SystemWorks 2006, for example, includes a Wipe Info utility
among its other functions. The download version sells for $70.
Finnie says that consumers generally get what they pay for, but some free programs also work well. Check user reviews before you download or order anything.
The best products should meet Department of Defense
specifications.
Whether you pay for the program in time or money, your efforts should prove worthwhile. Once data gets overwritten, it's virtually impossible to recover the data that's on the hard drive, says Finnie.
Beyond wiping the hard drive, only one course of action
will better protect your financial information: Operation Data Destroy.
Surefire protection:
Destroy the hard drive
Those worried about information stored on the hard drive can always
destroy or remove it. Situated inside the computer, the hard drive
"looks like a small, lead paperback book," says Feldman,
"it's the biggest solid thing in your computer. If you have
vision and a screwdriver, you can get to it."
After you take it out, drill five to six holes into
it, says Feldman. While the process will render the hard drive nonfunctional,
the next user can get a new one for around $50, she says.
Other suggestions included smashing it with a hammer
or taking it to a foundry and melting it down. If annihilation is
your aim, you can choose from plenty of creative -- if oddly satisfying
-- destruction methods. When the user's use for a hard drive ends,
let the user's hard drive end.
Destroying it is the only sure way to prevent someone from accessing your information. But it's not necessary, says Finnie. Commercial wiping programs should do a good job of sanitizing the hard drive.
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