The Urban Legend of Multipass Hard Disk Overwrite

It is "known" that to securely delete the data from the disk you need to write the data over the deleted blocks several times (different sources say from 3 to 35 times). But is this true?


The Urban Legend of Multipass Hard Disk Overwrite article will tell you what the state of things is as of now (well, of '2011).


The overall conclusion, I think, is "if you are paranoid, physical destruction of the disks is recommended".

Internet of Things strikes back

The Internet Of Things is another big hype around the corner. Or ... right in your room already, if you have one of those consumer devices, which are silently powered by general-purpose (or wide-spread proprietary specialized) operating system like Linux or that Cisco OS that powers all their products. The devices include network appliances, smart (and some "dumb") TV sets, and also surveillance cameras and DVRs.

And all those "things" are part of Internet, either by incident (due to misconfigured and overly opened networks) or intentionally. 

What happens if the hacker finds a way to one of those things, is described in this article. In the article the malware (bitcoin miner) was silently installed over Telnet port opened by default (and properly not blocked on the nearest router/NAT). And the miner is a small evil, comparing to what can happen if hackers get to camera recorder, disable recording and then join some robbers to rob the protected house.

Important new security extension

There was a new security extension introduced in RFC 7169. Please check it for details.