Re: [Fed-Talk] DSS issues (was RE: FOSE 2005)
Re: [Fed-Talk] DSS issues (was RE: FOSE 2005)
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] DSS issues (was RE: FOSE 2005)
- From: Peter Link <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 09:27:12 -0700
DSS issues like securely deleting a file, and sanitizing a hard drive so it
can be released from classified back into general use...
....
The second question has not yet been answered as far as I can tell, and it
is a question I have been actively pursuing an answer to for a couple of
months now.
In fact, if anybody on this list knows of a DSS-approved method for
sanitizing hard drives in OSX, I'd like to hear of it.
We take the more conservative approach and never allow a disk
that has had classified on it to be used in an environment that isn't
classified. We degauss the disks in a nasty microwave that melts
their insides. We're even getting close to doing this with
unclassified disks because of the potential for loss of sensitive
information.
This isn't what you wanted to hear but we feel the cost of
lost classified information is much greater than the cost of a new
disk.
Securing deleting a file:
I have asked the same question before but even with a proper
answer, verification of the deletion is the problem I have. I did
find that ProSoft's Drive Genius has the ability to browse the disk
block-by-block. <http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php>
I did send them an email asking if they could enhance their software
to provide a search capability. I received a return email saying
they'd look into it. This capability would allow us to demonstrate to
everyone that the secure delete function actually works. For those of
you who deal with contamination, it also would serve the purpose of
verifying that the contaminated files contents have been deleted from
every sector of the disk. If this feature interests others, I would
suggest talking to ProSoft about enhancing their product.
--
Peter Link
Technology Advisor for the Technical Information Department
TID Information System Security Officer
Administration and HR Directorate
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P.O. Box 808, L-664
Livermore, CA 94550
email@hidden
(925) 423-1230
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