Forums Help & support Question about "Secure detele"

This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  Svante 7 years, 1 month ago.

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #7894 Reply

    Nora

    Will my files if i used “secure delete” will be recovered by using some Windows softwares such as EaseUS Data Recovery or some forensics tools?

    #7895 Reply

    Svante
    Spectator

    Hello Nora,

    Normally, no. What the secure delete does is simply open the file using normal file system calls, then overwrite the contents of the file with random data, issue an instruction to the operating system to flush (i.e. actually write the data to disk). This will stop normal file recover tools quite cold.

    However, there are many caveats depending on the technology used underneath. If you have Windows “shadow copies” enabled, there may be older copies available. If you have Windows compression enabled, the actual data written is likely not what the program thinks. If the drive is a SSD device with wear leveling (most do) then special software may be able to recover data, although it’ll be hard to re-assemble whole files without a lot of work. There are other special situations too.

    As has been evidenced by the actions of various security agencies in the last couple of years, the only apparently trustworthy data-sanitation tool is a power drill, sledge hammer or high pressure compactors.

    AxCrypt secure delete will suffice for most reasonable situations. If you want a more secure non-destructive tool complement with periodic use of tools such as Eraser (it will overwrite all empty blocks on the disk until the disk is full). If you think the man is after you, see above suggested power tools.

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
Reply To: Question about "Secure detele"
Your information: