HD destroyer!

Lyecdevf · Post by **Lyecdevf** » 13 Aug 2009, 13:40

It is a cold Sunday morning. You are still in your bed and you are watching cartoons.

Next thing you hear is the police at the door..."open the door." You have no time to think...you know the police is here to bust you for hacking activities. Luckily you have planed this all out before. You jump out of your bed in your hello kitty PJ's

and grab the mobile phone on your desk with your right hand and the with your left you grab the lollipop from last day. You put the lollipop in your mouth while your punch in with your left hand a mobile phone number. The police are banging at the door and your mom has no choice other than to let them in. You are freaking out. The cops are only a few seconds away from grabbing your and the computers. The data that they want is just sitting there on the three computers that are connected to the itnernet 24/7. As you imagine your self sitting in a jail cell with three other inmates a request for a pin number shows up on the screen of your mobile phone. With the remaining nerves you try to concentrate and remember the number 2....4...5....7...., "pin accepted," read words on the mobile phone screen. You have just activated the three electromagnes connected to all the hardrives that contain sensitive information. The electromagnets are going to destroy the hardrive and make it difficult for any one to get the information out of the destroyed hardrives. There is nothing left for you other than to get back to bed and continue watching the cartoons.

So what do you think? Is it possible to make some thing like that? To activate an electromagnet through a mobile phone. At the same time the device would only be activated once the correct pin number would be inserted and only three tries would be given.

3XTORTION · Post by **3XTORTION** » 13 Aug 2009, 13:54

Wow !! dude you should write a novel

Im not an expert in electronics so i really cant tell anything but thats an amazing idea if it could be done

How did u got it ? While sitting at bed watching cartoons with your hello kitty PJ's ?

Lyecdevf · Post by **Lyecdevf** » 13 Aug 2009, 14:39

3XTORTION wrote:How did u got it ? While sitting at bed watching cartoons with your hello kitty PJ's ?

I have been thinking about this for a while. In fact I have other similar ideas. I guess I could use SATA extension cables to get the HD out of the computer case. That way it would be easier to hammer the HD and faster.

Post by **DNR** » 13 Aug 2009, 15:08

IEDs in Iraq are triggered by cellphones, so why not a electromagnet setup?

DNR

visser · Post by **visser** » 13 Aug 2009, 18:39

i mean shoot i have seen a youtube video of my smart phone remote controlling a race car before

Kirk · Post by **Kirk** » 13 Aug 2009, 19:04

Here is a better way to destroy a HDD. I don't know much about this but what you want is an electromagnet not a magnet. I know, you get a magnet through electricity, however, from what I understand of this math is an electromagnet has current passing through it constantly. When the current is not on, the magnet is not on. They are also stronger then regular magnet and bigger.

But why use a magnet? It wont destroy all the information. It will leave ghost bits on it that forensics can pick up on. This is what i propose:

http://www.deadondemand.com/products/enhancedhdd/

We have a full topic on HDD destruction here Hardware & electronics. Its called Demagnatize a hard drive

cool idea though. i like it.

Lyecdevf · Post by **Lyecdevf** » 14 Aug 2009, 08:40

visser wrote:i mean shoot i have seen a youtube video of my smart phone remote controlling a race car before

I am going to have a look at that. Another idea would be to use SATA extension cables to have the HD out side the housing and store them lets say in a microwave instead. I think that the heat of the microwave should destroy the contents of a hardrive plus it is pretty fast.

Post by **DNR** » 14 Aug 2009, 08:58

well you are getting close - the right idea is to build a box to contain the HDDs and the destruction device. You can remove the protective covers from the HDDs, the box will prevent dust from getting in, and it exposes the internals for whatever destructive means you will use. If the box is water tight, why not have a gallon container of acid fitted to the top of the box, and just have a twist nozzle to dump the acid into the box, onto the HDDs? The box can be a fireproof safe (you can still drill holes into it easily) so it will be secured by its locks.
The electromag idea can be built stronger using the box, the electromag can be built into all sides of the box ensuring coverage to all parts of the HDD.

Maybe better to get a SSD and crush it - I don't think they can reassemble SSDs.

DNR

DrVirus · Post by **DrVirus** » 14 Aug 2009, 10:09

Well while u are at it, why not wrap the disk in Magnesium tape and get a fuse. And when the cops do show up, light the fuse. I doubt they will get anything out melted HDDS. What do u think DNR ?

Post by **floodhound2** » 14 Aug 2009, 10:54

If you were me you would rig the computer case up with a trigger so that when the case is opened it destroys the hard disk. Your best bet is to use a powerful and radioactive chemical to destroy the disk.

In the real world however...

...During my schooling and as a cocky student I learned the hard way. The professors would go into very great detail on how a hard drive is made and operated. I argued and questioned all of what they were teaching me. This knowledge shed much light on the fact that once data is written to a disk it is almost permanent and can be recovered even after such severe abuse that I mentioned. You can rewrite on the disk as many times as you want. You can shread the platters, you can light it on fire. The fact is: is that the people that want the data can retrieve it.

"Imagine having a piece of paper and writing a note on it with a pencil. You can erase it but, the paper still has an indention made from the pencil on it. Imagine taking that same peice of paper and now ripping it up into little pieces. With enough time you can tape it back together."

Its helped by an electron microscope and another computer.

The bits of 1's and 0's create a ghosting effect that layers 7-10 deep. This technique in conjunction with a powerful computer that recognizes known patterns that software leaves can retrieve data.

This is an extreme way to recover data, however its becoming more and more freezable by agencies to employ.

Pong18 · Post by **Pong18** » 14 Aug 2009, 12:15

why not try sticking 1kilogram of plastic explosives say C4 or semtex or nitroglycerin inside your box right on the surface of your hdds and have main switch detonator 1 switch destroys the whole house and pesky cops!!!!!
buwahahahahaha!

Post by **bad_brain** » 14 Aug 2009, 12:51

too complicated pong, simply drill a big hole on top of the computer case and have a hand grenade ready....

but yeah, I guess it's almost impossible to do a emergency HDD erase that is 100% safe (at least in real life)...the better way is imo to encrypt the whole HDD with a strong algorithm and keep the key + password on a USB stick. the USB stick is surely much easier to destroy in a few seconds, and some algorithms are not crackable yet....not even with the NASA computers.
the worst thing that can happen (at least under the german laws) is that you have to spend max. 6 months in prison as coercive detention. but well, for that you really would need to have terrorist plans or something like that on the HDD, copyright violations are about civil laws, not about criminal laws (at least here, is it different in the USA?).

Post by **DNR** » 14 Aug 2009, 13:39

BB has a point, they even made it a contempt of court charge to NOT give up your passwords so the police can examine your HDDS or files. So that means for the same time as most computer crime charges - you'll sit in jail for upto 5 years just for not telling them how to decrypt your files!

The destruction of evidence could be turned into a obstruction charge.

I figured the chemical tactic might be the most legal next to a home made electromagnet - its illegal to have explosives or thermite, but not liquid acids. I suggest HydroFloric acid - its used for etching glass, and very harmful for people to touch

And Floodie has the last point - Don't piss off someone that has the money and time to restore your destroyed HDDs.

DNR

Pong18 · Post by **Pong18** » 15 Aug 2009, 00:11

yeah i know its too complicated hehehe i was just having 1 of those wild dreams to wreak destruction with a diabolical scheme like in the movies hehehe.

what i was thinking was this:

------------C4 cmpd
C4 cmpd HDD C4 cmpd
------------C4 cmpd

then kaboom! damage beyond repair!
hehehehe!

Kirk · Post by **Kirk** » 15 Aug 2009, 00:25

so, where is everyone going to get this C4 at? you get your hands on some C4 PM me.