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Account frozen...

> > 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.

> 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.

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

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> > 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?

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.

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.

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Hnn, enough talk about this there has been.