erewhon came up with this when s/he headbutted the keyboard a moment ago in
alt.computer.security:

>
>> What about just one pass (because it simply *is* sufficient) with freely
>> available tools?
>
> Do you make this stuff up as you go along?!
>
> One pass is NOT sufficient to remove the data to a point at which it
cannot
> be recovered. It will fool most data reading tools, but certainly not
> systematic, low level magnetic analysis of the platter. For that you need
to
> sufficiently break up the magnetic storage to the point there it is
> indistinguishable from random fluctuations.
>
> One pass might stop your basic data scavenger - it sure as hell won't stop
> the pro's.

hence my mention of military grade formatting tools - which destroy the data
to the point where it is practically impossible to recover anything even
with the cleanest of cleanrooms and all the time in the world - assuming
you even knew precisely what you were looking for.

I'm a pro.
--
-*- Linux Desktops & Clustering Solutions -*- http://dotware.co.uk
-*- Registered Linux user #426308 -*- http://counter.li.org
-*- Linux is like a wigwam: no Windows, no Gates, and Apache inside.
-*- <discl mode="Boilerplate" />