You should know that when you "delete" a file on your computer in your operating system, whether Linux, Windows or Mac, the file is not *really* deleted or overwritten until the space is needed for new data. This is beneficial when you acc…
You should know that when you "delete" a file on your computer in your operating system, whether Linux, Windows or Mac, the file is not *really* deleted or overwritten until the space is needed for new data. This is beneficial when you accidentally delete a file, but is dangerous when you "delete" a sensitive file and falsely feel like you're safe.
Linux has the command `shred` which overwrites files with random data, which solves this issue. You can also output /dev/urandom or /dev/zero to blank or distort empty space on a drive.
Even in the case of encrypted drives, it's a good idea to use /dev/urandom or obscure unused or previously used space to prevent metadata leakage about how much you've stored on the drive or what used to be on it, in a way that could tie you to an important USB drive or computer.
00:00 No data's every *really* gone!
01:49 Gist
03:37 Dangers of File Recovery
04:50 Good Op-sec
05:56 `shred` to overwrite and delete files
08:09 /dev/urandom and /dev/random
09:44 Blanking or shuffling drives with randomness
11:11 /dev/zero
12:22 Encrypted drives can still leak metadata!
15:01 Retroactively wiping empty space on an encrypted drive
16:12 Benefits and Dangers
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