Hard Drive Shredder

[JT8101997]

Did anyone else even know that these exist? Sorry if this seems like kind of a dumb post i just thought this was pretty cool. Besides government facilities, who would even need something like this on a scale that would justify the purchase?

 

[Syntaxvgm]

this is just a general shredder 

 

typically people use a drill press 

 

If you want to do it thoroughly, take the lid off, fire it up, touch with mallet or hammer, platters will explode. 

[CoolaxGaming]

If you want to wipe and HDD completely, why not just hammer it?

Or microwave it?

[Enderman]

This is a metal shredding machine to compact and recycles any metal

this is not specifically made for hard drives

 

there are crushers made to destroy hard drives with sensitive data and they look like this

you dont buy a $10000 machine to crush hard drives

[Umzipumzi]

I just use them as armour plating for my car.

[JT8101997]

This is a metal shredding machine to compact and recycles any metal

this is not specifically made for hard drives

Oh ok. Well that makes more sense to me. I was trying to figure out why someone would buy such a big expensive machine just to destroy hard drives unless it was like the CIA or something.

[Syntaxvgm]

[mr moose]

This thread makes the tight arse hoarder side of me cry.

[terrytek]

I just chuck my hard drives at a wall.

[FatPenguin]

no I would pay the goverment $1 for every HDD and take the magnets 

[BOT Edward]

My work uses a machine similar to this to destroy old hard drives with sensitive data.

An organisation isn't going to want to tender out machines and have some random buyer logon to their domain/accessing the data

[Vivilacqua1]

This is all just way too sad.   :c

[Godlygamer23]

If you want to wipe and HDD completely, why not just hammer it?

Or microwave it?

I'm sure you could pull off some of the data if you wanted to, even after smashing the platters to bits.

[TetraSky]

I knew these existed, but never saw the point... If the drive still works, I run a secure write software. If the drive doesn't work, I can just as well take it apart and smash the platters... Or make a cup coaster out of it

[JT8101997]

I knew these existed, but never saw the point... If the drive still works, I run a secure write software. If the drive doesn't work, I can just as well take it apart and smash the platters... Or make a cup coaster out of it

exactly my point. who the hell has this kind of volume that they need a huge ass expensive machine dedicated just to destroying hard drives. unless you're an electronic recycling plant or the CIA or something.

[MblaZe7run]

I open up drives and run my knife over top of the platters, moving the knife slowly from the center to the outer edge. If there are multiple platters or data is stored on both sides, I flip the disk, and do the same. Just for safe measure, I usually run a sharpie over top of them too. After all that, I'll bend or cut through the platters with a pair of sheet metal shears/snips. All depends on the mood I'm in, or the tools at my disposal.

[Trik'Stari]

Thermite is still a better option in my opinion.

 

Or at least a more awesome one.

[Syntaxvgm]

I'm sure you could pull off some of the data if you wanted to, even after smashing the platters to bits.

Wouldn't the shock causes the magnetic...polarity?... to change or something?

Anyway the point with physically obliterating hard drive is to make it clear, even to a jury, that nothing could have possibly been recovered. sometimes a lot of people feel that the'll be framed by "experts" testifying that the uncovered x and y, so grinding a disk into dust is the best way to prevent that. 

Jake's paranoid data protection steps-

Dban like 30 passes

open, fire up platters, hit with hammer while in plastic tub to catch the little bits- when the drive is spinning at 5400 or 7200 rpm it is really easy to shatter

pound it into dust

throw dust over various parts of a lake. 

Add fire in this process where you feel needed. 

 

 

Each one of the steps I included have all individually been used to make data not recoverable to forensic teams in a criminal investigation. Even drives that were not shattered but were water soaked long enough (few years?) were not workable

Disclaimer- This amount of excessive hard drive destruction makes you look guilty of something. 

SSDs-

Dban a few passes, take pcb out, put in Blender, spread in lake. 

[brandishwar]

There was a story I came across a number of years ago where for an RMA on a hard drive from a police department, the manufacturer made the... mistake of saying they'd take the hard drive back in any condition. They let a few officers take some shots at it.... literally. Trying to find the story but can't remember where I last saw it...