Regular readers will know that I keep a keen eye on security and protection on private data. Previously I covered using KeePass to store password (of course the best would be to keep everything in the head), using Tor and Privoxy for anonymous browsing and setting up a VPN to share data using Hamachi.

In this post (and the next), I want to share some tools that will secure your data on your harddisk.

Eraser is an open source security tool which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.

Why do you want to do this?

The reason lies in the fact that when you delete a file, Windows does not really remove the file from the harddisk. It just removes the reference of the file (not the actual content). The file content still remains on the disk until another file is written over it. Even after file is written over it, it might still be possible for a sophisticated person to recover the data by studying the magnetic patterns on the disk surface.

Nevermind if you do not quite understand the last paragraph*. Just remember if you need to securely remove a file so that no one else can recover it, you need a tool like Eraser.

Tools like Eraser goes by a few description. They are sometime referred to as file shredder, disk wiper, destructive delete, etc.

Basically there are 2 main functions that you want to use them for

1. To delete (shred) an existing file or disk so that it is no longer recoverable.
2. To clean (wipe) your empty harddisk space so that old, deleted data cannot be recovered.

Eraser can do both.

Using Eraser

After installing, erasing a file is just a simple right-click on the file and choose Erase.

You can leave the Options as its default and go ahead and click Yes.

A status box will appear showing the erasing. Depending on your file size this may take a while.

Wiping Empty Disk Space

To wipe empty/unused disk space, right-click on a disk drive.

Follow the same confirmation as the file shredding. If you have a large disk, this will take a long time.

*Useful reference:

• File wiping on Wikipedia
• Why a normal delete is not sufficient

Chinese support

Ufortunately it seems like the UI does not support other languages.

Where to get it?

• Eraser is at http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
• Current version: 5.82
• Function: File Shedder (Eraser)

Related Post:

• KeePass 1.06 release
• Are you still using FTP? Beware
• Punch through web filter with Tor
• Remember all your passwords with KeePass