Meet Bustadrive, a home-made hard disk destroyer

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/08/14/meet-bustadrive-a-home-made-hard-disk-destroyer/

>>

>>

See also:

http://www.bustadrive.com/

This article is not an ad, and I am not affiliated with Bustadrive in any way.

 

Snowdrift,

Is it me, or do the buttons not work on their website
I can click on them all I want, but nothing happens.

I would like to see a short clip or something of how it actually works.
Does it just run a huge pin through it

 

That site is sad... you're right. The flyovers don't work. I tried two diff. browsers. They had a bunch of misspellings on it originally as well, which I emailed them about.

It doesn't use pins... It warps the drives. It looks like it destroys the spindles... but in my opinion that leaves the platters intact.

So... I doubt I would ever want to use this thing. Better to use a sander, buckshot, or thermite, unless DBAN is used.

 

Well, I would nevver use something like that.

Thermite is indeed a feasible but agressive option, and hard to get or perhaps even make yourself.
Unless ofcourse you know how to make it, or where to get it.....

The buttons on their site don't work.
It leaves the impression that their site isn't ready yet, but why they've already published it I can only guess.

PS: DBAN doesn't get everything on your HD...just to let you know..

 

When a cutting torch or a disk grinder can reduce a drive to a puddle or a pile of shavings, why waste time with a toy like that?

 

Here is excellent software for sanitizing hard drives.
One can physically destroy or reuse the hard drive afterwards.

cyberCide by CyberScrub:
http://www.cyberscrub.com/products/cybercide/


HKEY1952

 

Why would anyone want to pay for something that is probably not as effective as what can be done for free?

 

Free hard drive wiping tools may do an adequate job under most home user circumstances.
Businesses and other entities that store sensitive information must have the hard drives professionally sanitized.
cyberCide by CyberScrub is an professional hard drive sanitizing tool.


HKEY1952

 

Most free hard drive wipping will actually do a perfect job, its impossible to re-create drive data after a single pass overwrite, use 2-pass if you're overparanoid. The HPA/DCO drive areas that some manufacturers use is not writable to the OS, so it should not be a security risk, but if your overparanoid you can use TrueCrypt or HDDErase to delete these areas.

 

If your lawyers will allow you to comment .... I'm curious what the difference is between free hard drive wiping tools and drives that are "professionally sanitized" with CyberCide? A wipe is a wipe is a wipe. One isn't "professional" and one "not professional" if they are developed by people who know what they are doing. Are you suggesting there are methods CyberCide uses that aren't available in free tools? If so - what are they?

 

I believe that member "Bill_Bright" summed this up very nicely:

That being said, no free wiping tool is going to offer such an complex algorithm that will bypass computer forensic laboratory inspection.
Even when drives are professionally wiped, computer forensic laboratory inspection can still recover data off the disk, the magnetic partials are always there.

Links: Member "Bill_Bright" Quote = Last entry in Post
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1527317&postcount=23


HKEY1952

 

Urban legand.

 

Sorry, but that's wrong. I have been in contact with IBAS (http://www.ibas.com) on several occasions, and they can NOT re-create data that have been wiped with 1-pass overwrite. and IBAS is world leading in this area.

Another reference:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/408263ql11460147/

 

As an final note, we are not speaking of re-creating data in its entirety, only enough for legal forensic evidence.

IBAS QUOTE FROM WEB SITE/
ExpertEraser™ provides users with an efficient tool for removing all traces of data from hard drive slated for disposal, recycling or reuse.
\END IBAS QUOTE FROM WEB SITE

Verification link:
http://www.ibas.com/data-erasure

ExpertEraser is as advertised: "efficient tool" = sorry, not good enough.


HKEY1952

 

Yes, and that's what I am talking about, "legal forensic evidence".
IBAS can't re-create data, enough for "legal forensic evidence", from a hard drive that have been overwritten.

 

HKEY, You've fallen for marketing hype. As for splitting hairs over "professional" "efficient" etc. that's, again, just wrong. The H-Bombs dropped on Japan to end WWII were described as "efficient" when Harry Truman was apprised of their power when trying to decide to use them. Would you say they were (sadly) "good enough?"

Claiming drives that have been wiped can still have data retrieved is just not true.

CyberCide obviously uses a variation of the Gutmann method which even Peter Gutmann himself, says is no more effective on modern hard drives than a simple random wipe.

I love Wilders for the community. However, I hate it when certain members repeatedly make claims that are false on their face and end up reflecting poorly on the entire board. HKEY, you've done it now three times in a week.

 

Gerard, Spot on.
Their ARE still nowadays alot of urban legends/myths concerning retreiving data from a wiped hard drive.
Ignorance is our enemy in this case if you see threads around every corner that dont even exist. It can keep you busy al day long accomplishing nothing in the end.

 

Just to say i have purchased on e these Bustadrives and it is brilliant - £249 +vat. it punctures the platters and completeley mangles them. Noone will read the data without CSI style kit... bargin in house hard drive destroyer.

 

Gotta agree.
Unless your HDD contains your country's nuclear launch codes, I cannot fathom a near $400 expenditure.

 

I have a plate stirrer at work that wipes drives pretty quickly. Amazing what a rotating electro-magnetic field at 1500 rpm can do to data

Sul.