Hnn, enough talk about this there has been.

That's where my experience comes in, and it's not likely to be successful. Recall that WiFi is not a stationary design - It is intended to roam. So unless you've got someone in the area, can ping down the machine, check the traceroutes and geographically locate its use, and keep moving in order to follow the suspect, it ain't gonna be found let alone recovered.

Once again, the Prof. was the weak link in securing the data, and it took a thief to prove it.

Let's hope that it wasn't industrial sabotage.

---

Considering the hard drive is in an iron case for the specific purpose of conducting away any external magnetism, combined with the reluctance of the magnetic particles on a hard drive being very high, you're gonna need a lot stronger field than just a coil and an AC outlet (I used to work in an area with real "magnetic device declassifiers"). If you're that worried about getting caught with the physical device, best just to disassemble the thing, with a hatchet or hammer if nothing else, and sandpaper off the platters. No proof at that point unless the factory can track the serial number of the drive, assuming you fail to destroy that.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to send the data alone back, but the whole thing about doing a "purchase search" is overhyped. At another place I used to work (very large retail chain), it isn't like they insisted on seeing your ID when buying disks and paying cash. The cops could have subpoenaed our closed circuit television system recordings (and did on occasion, but only for perps known to have been in at a specific time), but then they get to search through days to weeks of video images matching up everyone who bought this brand of DVD, and that's just ONE store out of dozens to hundreds. Unless the professor REALLY was into some heavy stuff, that just wouldn't be seen as cost-effective to chase after one stolen computer.

Best catch, besides the thief accidentally going to a fence already under surveillance, is simply finding the MAC address, CPU ident, or whatever hitting the Internet. That stuff is beyond my experience, however.

> > Trust me, degaussing will work.
>
> F steam clean. A good rubbing with 99% isopropyl will do the trick.
>

Hmm I wonder if the thief is listening to all of this?

Don't make me pull the plug on you... or prong, for that matter...

---

> Dog tag?
> Mwahahaha...
>
See? You can't do anything else than do what Fuzzyball tells you to do. :)

Straight Jackets ?!
Straight Jackets !?
We don't need no stinkin' Straight Jackets!!!

Dog bite 'im.

---

> > Trust me, degaussing will work. Then, just steam clean the rest of it.
> >
> Degaussing would send so many transient voltages through
> every circuit all you'd end up with is toast.
>

Okay, then just use a reliable wipe util to do the job on the disk. Here is the FULL crazy DoD method:

US Department of Defense 5220.22-M Clearing and Sanitization Matrix

a. Degauss with a Type I degausser

b. Degauss with a Type II degausser.

c. Overwrite all addressable locations with a single character.

d. Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify. THIS METHOD IS NOT APPROVED FOR SANITIZING MEDIA THAT CONTAINS TOP SECRET INFORMATION.

e. Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character.

f. Each overwrite must reside in memory for a period longer than the classified data resided.

g. Remove all power to include battery power.

h. Overwrite all locations with a random pattern, all locations with binary zeros, all locations with binary ones.

i. Perform a full chip erase as per manufacturer's data sheets.

j. Perform i above, then c above, a total of three times.

k. Perform an ultraviolet erase according to manufacturer's recommendation.

l. Perform k above, but increase time by a factor of three.

m. Destroy - Disintegrate, incinerate, pulverize, shred, or melt.

n. Destruction required only if classified information is contained.

o. Run five pages of unclassified text (font test acceptable).

p. Ribbons must be destroyed. Platens must be cleaned.

q. Inspect and/or test screen surface for evidence of burned-in information. If present, the cathode ray tube must be destroyed.

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Account frozen...

Dog tag?
Mwahahaha...

---

> > And exactly how do you propose doing this?[/i] [Demagnetization]
> > I'm not proposing it, but a few coils around a an iron core plugged
> straight
> > into a 22Amp 120V outlset should do the trick.
> >
> > It'll also kill the guy in the process, but who cares, right?
> >
>
> Close your tags you DB wannabe. :)
>
It's an Apple thingy....ha ha...

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Account frozen...

...and you can't resell toast.

You could always chop the box down for parts and build yourself a BOINC cruncher....

---

> And exactly how do you propose doing this?[/i] [Demagnetization]
> I'm not proposing it, but a few coils around a an iron core plugged straight
> into a 22Amp 120V outlset should do the trick.
>
> It'll also kill the guy in the process, but who cares, right?
>

Close your tags you DB wannabe. :)

> Trust me, degaussing will work. Then, just steam clean the rest of it.
>
Degaussing would send so many transient voltages through
every circuit all you'd end up with is toast.

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Account frozen...

> Trust me, degaussing will work.

F steam clean. A good rubbing with 99% isopropyl will do the trick.

...law enforcement agencies dont suddenly just go away.
If the Prof isn't BSing and they do have a pic and a log, then law enforcement would've found the sucker already.

And exactly how do you propose doing this? [Demagnetization]
I'm not proposing it, but a few coils around a an iron core plugged straight into a 22Amp 120V outlset should do the trick.

It'll also kill the guy in the process, but who cares, right?

I'm sure that's exactly what the thief's public defender will say to him.
Care to chime in, Tom? !-P

Physical items leave a physical trail.
But digital items can clone that trail ad nauseous infinitum.

---

Trust me, degaussing will work. Then, just steam clean the rest of it.

> Take what you want. Destroy the rest.
> True. Maybe the thief could send everything back on a DLT/DAT or a pair of
> DVDs, but send the ing data back.

I disagree. That proves the thief is still hanging around. If caught there will be search warrants looking for similar dvd's, receipts of dvd purchases, video from the store they were purchased from... etc. Physical items leave a physical trail.

> Send it back so they can trace the route the data came thru? No way.
> As long as the data is untouched, the Prof. (and the Prof.'s wallet) is
> happy.
He may be happy, but the law enforcement agencies dont suddenly just go away. Whether or not the prof is happy or angry wont make a bit of difference.

> Either demagnatize it, bonfire it, and throw it into a dumpster somewhere,
> or demagnatize and keep if too cheap to buy a new one.
> You're talking to a guy who's been through the same situation: Give the data
> back - The rest doesn't matter as much.
And exactly how do you propose doing this?

> Maybe the guy has his DL# engraved somewhere inside the computer and they
> can ID it without the HD.
> Mere cosmetics.
I'm sure that's exactly what the thief's public defender will say to him.

Take what you want. Destroy the rest.
True. Maybe the thief could send everything back on a DLT/DAT or a pair of DVDs, but send the ing data back.

---

>
> > > The Wifi card can be torched without any further qualms...
> > Can one wifi card really be uniquely distinguished?
> >
>
> Yes... It's a network card and therefore it has a MAC address and all MAC
> addresses are unique.
>
Well if that don't beat all...