[ale] [OT] Mojave Experiment

[Jim Kinney]

Not to rain on the new toy parade but that's overkill even on my standards
(along with thermite - which is also fun!).

A serious note to this is:

All that is absolutely required is to raise the temperature of the platters
above the curie point when they loose all magnetic properties. The curie
point for most materials is below the melting point of most of the substrate
materials.  450F and higher and the disk is no longer magnetic. So a flash
heat source of 2000F for a few milliseconds will provide enough heat to
obliterate the magnetic fields on the surface (and leave some nice scorch
marks). Thus special, high security drives have a small plastic explosive
charge embedded in the cover and base that can be detonated manually,
heating the platters over the curie point without being a safety hazard to
nearby objects. It still buckles the cover and might throw some screw heads
around, though.

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 11:11 AM, Mike Harrison <meuon at geeklabs.com> wrote:

> > The only real way to ensure data is gone off a drive is to drop it into
> > a crucible and turn it into molten slag.
>
> Sounds like a way to expense a nice plasma torch.
>
> Which, if you haven't played with one, is a wonderful toy.. er.. tool. :)
>
>
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
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