On 1/31/06, Iain Buchanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If you "shred" or "wipe" the data (run random data over the disk many > times, with a bit of magic formulas thrown in) then apparently the FBI / > CIA / KGB / WTFC has a magnetic data recovery tool to see what bit was > written before the current bit (don't ask me how).
It works because hard disks are still analog recording devices. The magnetic field used to write the data extends slightly outwards on either side of the track, and thus can record data (although with a much lower S/N ratio) in the space between tracks. If you have the right hardware that can be convinced to read the area between tracks, you have a chance of recovering the data. In fact in recent years manufacturers have nearly reached the limit on how tightly tracks can be squeezed together before they start overwriting each other. This is why laptop drives maxed out at 120G, until Seagate started using 'perpindicular recording'. Since there is so little spacing between the tracks now, I suspect (but can't say for certain) that the chances of recovering data from a modern large (>160G) drive that has been 'shred'ed is pretty much nil, regardless of the amount of money you through at it. -Richard -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
