Search Security Now! Podcast Transcripts

I'm a big fan of computer podcasts, especially Steve Gibson's Security Now. I recently created a Google Custom Search to search just the Security Now archives. Enjoy!

http://www.tiny.cc/searchsn

Nuke That Old Hard Drive for Security

Don't ever throw out or give away an old computer that once contained private information on it without taking precautions (if you want to keep the information private). One of the best ways to protect your privacy is using a program that writes random characters over every spot on the hard drive repeatedly, e.g. A, then B, then X, then Y, then 7, then N. The point is to erase all the existing data including the persistent magnetic field so nobody can ever recover the old information.

The U.S. Department of Defense criteria is for seven such passes. I've long used a piece of software a consultant at work gave me for this purpose. A computer security podcast I listen regularly, Security Now, suggested a piece of free, open source, software that serves this purpose. So now you have no excuse for not policing your PC properly before disposal.

Here's the link: Darik's Boot and Nuke