Minnov8 Gang 347 – Erase That Drive…With Thermite!

As 2016 ramps up we have a few important stories to cover and we do. During the Security Tip of the Week our buddy Tim Elliott chimes in with another method to ensure data is wiped on your solid state drive (SSD) before you sell your computer or drive: thermite!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off)
Music: Reference to song removed at request by the artist

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:36 — 28.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Story Links

Past Week’s Top Minnesota Stories

• Magnet 360 Bought By India-Based Firm For $50M
• Target
  • Target CEO Brian Cornell visiting homes of customers
  • The Last Days of Target: The untold tale of Target Canada’s difficult birth, tough life and brutal death
• St. Paul native’s tech startup wants to kid-proof your smartphone
  • iOS 9.3 adds multi-user support for iPads in schools, new Classroom app, more
• Investment in Minnesota’s digital-health startups surges as med-tech dips
• Connecting the Dots: The Internet Revealed in 1993

Other Top Tech Stories

• IBM Acquires uStream
• NSA Chief Stakes Out Pro-Encryption Position, in Contrast to FBI
• Symphony Advanced Media Software Tracks Your Digital Life Through Your Smartphone Mic
• Music Memos is Apple’s new, simple recording app
• Microsoft kicks off Office Insider program for Mac users

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

TIP: How to really erase your hard drive…especially if it’s an SSD. Tossing your file into the computer’s trash and emptying it doesn’t delete your data. It just erases the file’s reference information in the disk directory, marking the blocks as free for reuse. Your data is still there, and can be recovered. Wiping an SSD incorrectly can cause such wear as to significantly reduce it’s life.

• Reference Links:
  • ZDNet: How to really erase any drive — even SSDs — in 2016
  • Thermite…really Tim? TekThing 51: Thermite, Acid, & Hammers Make Data Gone Forever!
• Bonus links for technical users:
  • ATA Secure Erase
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guidelines for Media Sanitization (PDF)
  • University of California – San Diego: Reliably Erasing Data From Flash-Based Solid State Drives (PDF)
  • SAFE: Fast, Verifiable Sanitization for SSDs or Why encryption alone is not a solution for sanitizing SSDs (PDF)

Cool Thing of the Week

• Phil: Grillbot
• Tim: Endless Computers
• Steve: TorFlow

Upcoming Events

• The Complete List of 250+ Tech, IT, and DevOps Conferences in 2016
  • Only the list as a Google spreadsheet
  • 32 conferences for Mac and iOS professionals in 2016
• Club Entrepreneur & Upsize Magazine, “Managing Rapid Growth,” Minneapolis Club, Jan 26, 11:00-1:00
• Mobile Twin Cities-Overcoming the Gender Gap in Mobile Tech w/Nancy Lyons. February 2
• DevFest February 6, St. Thomas
• MinneDemo 22, Thursday, February 18th, Depot, Minneapolis 6pm. Tickets TBD)
• IoT Fuse, April 22, Univ of St. Thomas-Minneapolis
• MinneWebCon U of MN McNamara Alumni Ctr April 25-26