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Brian Candler wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 19, 2006 at 09:54:54PM -0500, Ron Johnson wrote:
>> So, I propose that an option be added to shred email files
>> before they are ulinked.  GNU Shred does an adequate (and fast)
>> job of this, and is license-compatible with Courier, so it
>> "should" be easy to implement using the relevant routines from
>> GNU fileutils.
>> 
>> http://www.gnu.org/software/fileutils/doc/manual/html/fileutils.html
>> 
>> 
>> Since not every FS works well with shred, it should be an
>> option in the imapd config file.
>> 
>> Yes, this is not perfect, and has limitations, and can be
>> downright *slow* if you decide to shred 10,000 files with 25
>> overwrites, but is better than nothing, and as I said, "should"
>> be easy to implement.
>> 
>> Thoughts?
> 
> Rather than a full 'shred' operation, a single overwrite of the
> file with all zeros would be sufficient IMO.
> 
> Multiple-overwrite shredding is aimed at the possibility that
> someone will be able to remove the hard drive, take out the
> platters in a clean-room environment, attach special heads and
> extra-sensitive electronics, and be able to read data one or more
> passes below the most recently-written data. This is something
> which perhaps the military can do, but it's not available to the
> average Joe Bloggs.
> 
> A single overwrite with zeros will defeat anyone who tries to
> undelete files at a Unix shell interface, or even someone who
> connects to the IDE or SCSI interface and reads blocks directly.
> I'd say that covers the majority of the threat.

It costs just as much to write a mathematically correct bit pattern
as it does to write zeros.

- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

Is "common sense" really valid?
For example, it is "common sense" to white-power racists that
whites are superior to blacks, and that those with brown skins
are mud people.
However, that "common sense" is obviously wrong.
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