Removing data from unpowered tablet

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Gordy7

gordy7
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#250729 23-May-2019 10:23

My Asus Vivotab ME400C failed for a second time... battery and charging issues... was slow anyway.

My question was... how do you remove valuable data from modern semi-conductor storage?

The decision was not too difficult with HDDs... break the platters. SSDs and flash cards are more difficult.

Out of curiosity I dismantled the tablet and hammered a few chips... Have I done enough?

I guess I could have discharged an electric fence unit through the tablet as another oprion.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

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~HONYAKKER!~
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#2243639 23-May-2019 11:38

I'd imagine that unless you're trying to hide evidence of war crimes or other items of that magnitude 😋, smashing any chips you find within the device would be fine.

PolicyGuy

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#2243643 23-May-2019 11:53

"Declassification through destruction" is also the only GCSB-approved method for declassifying NZ Government classified solid-state / flash storage. IIRC into fragments no more than a couple of millimetres on a side.

So yes, identify the flash memory chips and whack them with a hammer until you feel better, it's a great stress reliever
;-)

Journeyman

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#2243644 23-May-2019 11:54

Got an angle grinder? Or a hammer?

wellygary

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#2243650 23-May-2019 12:08

Plumbers blowtorch should do the job,

neb

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#2244043 23-May-2019 18:00

Gurezaemon:
I'd imagine that unless you're trying to hide evidence of war crimes or other items of that magnitude 😋, smashing any chips you find within the device would be fine.

You also need to look at it from the point of view of who's going to recover it, even if you do nothing but smash the screen, an attacker would have to come onto your property, pull apart your rubbish bag/bin, dig down through the rotting fish heads and squishy unidentifiables to pull out the smashed tablet, clean it up, disassemble it and de-solder the flash, reverse-engineer the storage format and pull the data off, just to find out that whether you like viewing interspecies erotica slightly more than the average NZer. All you need to do is make it obvious that the thing isn't usable any more and you should be fine.

Gurezaemon

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#2244065 23-May-2019 18:41

neb:
Gurezaemon:

I'd imagine that unless you're trying to hide evidence of war crimes or other items of that magnitude 😋, smashing any chips you find within the device would be fine.

You also need to look at it from the point of view of who's going to recover it, even if you do nothing but smash the screen, an attacker would have to come onto your property, pull apart your rubbish bag/bin, dig down through the rotting fish heads and squishy unidentifiables to pull out the smashed tablet, clean it up, disassemble it and de-solder the flash, reverse-engineer the storage format and pull the data off, just to find out that whether you like viewing interspecies erotica slightly more than the average NZer. All you need to do is make it obvious that the thing isn't usable any more and you should be fine.

Then to be extra sure, incinerating the smashed remains with a propane torch, then driving around the countryside at night in a car with no number plates tossing the ash out of the windows at irregular intervals might be a better course of action. You can never be too careful. /s

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Journeyman

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#2244075 23-May-2019 18:55

Is it an option to toss it into a live volcano?

Gurezaemon

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#2244118 23-May-2019 19:06

Journeyman:

Is it an option to toss it into a live volcano?

As long as only part of it is thrown in. The other parts should be dissolved in acid, incinerated, or powdered with a grinder, and then scattered.

Brumfondl

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#2244188 23-May-2019 20:43

Incinerate the head and the heart and throw the ashes of each into separate bodies of moving water...

Actually, that might be vampires...

1101

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#2244411 24-May-2019 09:51

Throw it in your cesspit

No ones going in there after it .

Or give it to Rocket Lab to send into space

alexx

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#2244512 24-May-2019 11:53

Search for "butane pencil blow torch" if you're looking for something smaller and cheaper than the one shown above.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

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trig42

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#2244514 24-May-2019 11:57

An Blendtec will sort it.

http://www.willitblend.com/

neb

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#2245420 25-May-2019 15:39

1101: Throw it in your cesspit

No ones going in there after it .

I wouldn't be so sure. My dad was given, during the war when you couldn't get anything, an incredibly itchy, scratchy hand-knitted winter pullover. He hated it so much he threw it down their long-drop. Since it was wartime and you couldn't get anything else, it had to be retrieved, so it was duly fished out, washed, and worn again.

Bung

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#2245431 25-May-2019 16:13

Neb's dad may have been onto something

" Urine has a variety of uses in the dying industry. First, it acts as a cleansing agent, removing oils and dirt -- especially important in preparing wool for dying. Reportedly, the resultant wool, once dried, is not only much cleaner, but also extraordinarily soft to the touch."

Extraordinary methods used to destroy data could also be used against the owner. How much electric fence or blowtorch before Gordy7 is retyping either a confession or the evidence just to make it stop?

Gordy7

gordy7
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#2245450 25-May-2019 17:42

Extraordinary methods used to destroy data could also be used against the owner. How much electric fence or blowtorch before Gordy7 is retyping either a confession or the evidence just to make it stop?

Ha Ha! Hadn't thought of that angle.... Luckily I don't live in the USA where I would be guilty with my actions....

Of course wifey thinks I watch porno all the time.... so I need to get rid of the evidence...

From a technical aspect it is becoming almost impossible to identify memory chips in tablets and phones...

Blow torch or incineration seem like the best options....

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

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