Lost any file lately?

sinck@ugive.com wrote:
> \_ If you want to make sure a file goes bye-bye try srm, secure rm (I
> \_ haven't).
> IIRC, there was a discussion about a secure rm like thing on BUGTRAQ
> not too long ago and basically it was saying rude things about a) swap
> and b) that any current linux-based "secure removal" tool was doomed
> to fail, probably when you thought it was really needed. I think the
> tool was 'scratch' or 'scrub' or something like that. There was much
> larting to be had by all on that topic.
>
> The solution was to use only a crypted filesystem in the first place.
> That way the data bits will be lost in the noise.

Thats not a solution tho, thats a "you should have ...". It wont solve
the problem when it crops up.

The solution that will definitly work, it seems to me, is to remove
the files you want removed, then fill all remaining space on the
filesystem with the beloved "yes" command...


yes > file1

If this fails do to a 2GB limit (?), then do:

yes > file2

etc...

When the filesystem is full, make sure to sync it, then remove the
files that contain several gigs of "y<cr>"....

Clumbsy, slow, but should work, on any OS that has "yes" and "sync",
right? (Note: it wont remove records of the file NAMES, however)

-- 
jkenner @ mindspring . com__
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