Re: storage privacy (was: Nice quiet, private, anonymous life??)

["Gregory Maxwell" <gmaxwell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 4, 2007 3:35 PM,  <mark485anderson@xxxxxx> wrote:
> A strong magnetic field close to the hard drive will completely destroy
> the data making it impossible to recover. I will also probably fuckup
> the drive mechanism, rendering the drive useless.

If by strong you mean a super conducting magnet of the sort find in a
labratory NMR machine, then probably true. A degaussing coil that you
might find in your home, not a chance.

> Someone said consumer
> demagnetizers were not sufficently strong? How do you know this?

The amazing density of moderns drives means the individual magnetic
domains need to be very resistant to change.  It's a fairly
straightforward math exercise which has been performed by people far
smarter than I.

> I have not run a tor server, so I do not know the exact requirements.
> Can it be done from a ram drive?

Sure.

> Explosives and incendiaries are a poor choice for obvious reasons. Want
> to add arson and terrorism to your charges?
>
> I am not saying magnetism is the only way or even the best way, but a
> way, assuming you have recent backups at an undisclosed, secure
> location.

Any proactive action to destroy data would look very bad in court.
Using a ram drive, or simply not logging,  would be wise.