Ubuntu wipefs software#

Most notably, all Flash memory based devices and older magnetic storage (old HDDs, floppy disks, tape). There are different wiping issues with different physical storage technologies. In case of a HDD, data recreation will not be possible without at least undocumented drive commands or tinkering with the device's controller or firmware to make them read out for example reallocated sectors (bad blocks that S.M.A.R.T.

Ubuntu wipefs software#

Any file recovery software mentioned above then would need to be specialized on proprietary storage-hardware features.

If you want to quickly wipe everything from the disk, /dev/zero or simple patterns allow maximum performance while adequate randomness can be advantageous in some cases that should be covered up in #Data remanence.Įvery overwritten bit means to provide a level of data erasure not allowing recovery with normal system functions (like standard ATA/SCSI commands) and hardware interfaces. There may be (unencrypted) data left on the device and you want to protect against simple forensic investigation that is mere child's play with for example File recovery software.

The most common usecase for completely and irrevocably wiping a device is when the device is going to be given away or sold.

2.1 Operating system, programs and filesystemĬommon use cases Wipe all data left on the device.

1.2 Preparations for block device encryption.