Best Erase Method

[Anonymous]

Im curious as to what the most secure erase method offered with eraser is?

Guttman 35 pass
DoD 7 pass
DoD 3 pass (most likely not the best)
Pseudorandom Data

Ive searched the forums and have found no real SOLID answer to this question

Basicly my question comes down to is Pseudorandom Data set at 30-50 passes or more, more secure than DoD 7-pass, and Guttman? Or is there some custom erase protocol that is better?

Appreciate any input,

Johnny5

 

[Anonymous]

Erasing

Wow J5,what do you have that needs a 35 pass overwrite? This is for the real heavy stuff(i.e. criminals or spies,and the spooks trying to catch them),and I suggest if it really is needed,it might be better to grind up the HD and spread it over a wide area! It really is very time consuming to do a Guttman overwrite-have you tried it? For normal security/privacy may I suggest 5-10 overwrites to the pattern of your choice? Maybe you could tell us where you think the threat to your security will come from? There again,maybe not!

 

[Gralfus]

You won't get a necessarily straight answer. There are many claims one way and the other. In my experience, even one pass makes recovery impossible. I've used a variety of forensic tools to try to recover erased data and was unable to. I typically use 3 passes and then erase unused space. If a hard drive is being excessed, I use 7 passes to be in compliance with the standards I was given.