New way to erase hard drives

[Bozo]

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=97378


Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[freeborn]

Nice! The fields necessary to impact the drive's media through the drive's chassis are immense! I seriously doubt that the drive is functional afterwards. All of the servo fields will have been randomized as well as the user data. In the context of this article though, that is a good thing.

Free

 

[Will Rickards]

Immediately available at you local spy shop for office hijinks.

 

[mubs]

The fields necessary to impact the drive's media through the drive's chassis are immense!

I'd guess the fields would be equivalent to that generated by an MRI machine (hence those warnings about not having any metal on one's body when one's being scanned). Nevertheless it's fun to imagine what would happen if one were to stick one's hand into this machine. Would the hand morp into something else as the haemoglobin molecules re-orient themselves? Fodder for Sci-Fi. The Morph Machine.

 

[sechs]

Considering that people survive the magnetic field of an MRI, I wouldn't be worried about sudden morphing in people....

 

[Bozo]

Hmmmmm..might be interesting to have one of these magnets and walk through a data center.....

Bozo

 

[Mercutio]

Cruel <> interesting!

 

[P5-133XL]

I don't understand why the need for a specialty high-gause permanent magnet. Isn't it much easier and cheaper to produce high-gause magnetic fields with a high current slow cycling electro magnet? At least, with an electro-magnet, one can turn it off: who wants to carry around a 125 Lb permenant magnet and once near the metal case, how is one going to convienantly remove it.

Like in a cartoon -- I just visualize entering a resturant and watching all the flatware flying through the air towards me.

 

[Sol]

once near the metal case, how is one going to convienantly remove it.

I'm guessing that's China's problem...

I just visualize entering a resturant and watching all the flatware flying through the air towards me

Whilst this is obviously unlikely to be a problem in a fighter or spyplane it does bring to mind an image of a fighter dropping a load of chaff to avoid a US missile only to have the whole lot stick to the persuing fighter... Still unlikely but perhaps more topically comedic...

 

[mubs]

Considering that people survive the magnetic field of an MRI, I wouldn't be worried about sudden morphing in people....

it's fun to imagine what would happen if one were to stick one's hand into this machine. Would the hand morp into something else as the haemoglobin molecules re-orient themselves? Fodder for Sci-Fi. The Morph Machine.

 

[Tannin]

it does bring to mind an image of a fighter dropping a load of chaff to avoid a US missile only to have the whole lot stick to the persuing fighter...

Hmmmm ... given that the material in question is aluminium, an entirely non-magnetic substance, it would indeed be unlikely!

 

[LOST6200]

whY wouldf anyone want a 125 ton magnet in a jet frighter? Wouldt'n that slow down the handling, top spweed, altititudes, etc? Annd why aren"t flahs memory dirves or some decent encrypitation utilized by now?

 

[Tannin]

Simple: if you run out of bombs and it's a high-value target, just climb to 40,000 feet and drop the magnet.