All very interesting, the fact is that a hard drive is a physical medium and the magnetic field is very malleable. It is very possible to recover the data even if some random trash has been written over it. The way hard drives use elaborate algorithyms to 'guess' the contents with huge accuracy suggests that any approach is possible. This one reason why real security experts run multiple ie 14 passes at least with random data and very likely use Electromagnets of extreme power to reduce the chance of data recovery.
While the practicality is not there to recover data that has been overwritten a couple of times is economically untennable, I'm sure the NSA can do it if it really wanted your data, of course you would have to REALLY PISS THEM OFF to force their hand. Data recovery firms could do it if you paid them enough. On 2/2/06, Alexander Skwar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dale wrote: > > Alexander Skwar wrote: > >>Dale wrote: > >>>Grant wrote: > > >>>I think we all know it can be done. > >>> > >> > >>No, we don't. > >> > > > > Yes, some of us do. > > Well, some believe it to be possible. But not "we all" do think > so and much less "know" it. > > >>>Data recevery people do it too. > >>> > >> > >>Do they? Why don't they advertise this? > >> > > > > They didn't advertize the U2 spy plane either. It existed though. They > > don't always tell us everything. > > But why should data recovery people not advertize this? It > would or at least could generate some business. > > Alexander Skwar > -- > Today is a good day for information-gathering. Read someone else's mail file. > -- > gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list > > -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
