bad guys figuring out how to get sensitive information
out no matter how carefully wiped (physically or softwarely)
the media were. It is instilled in people dealing with
sensitive information that actual destruction is the only
really secure method.

I can understand that... :) Richard's going to let me take his bulk
eraser to MD, and Dale has said he thinks that will do the job... :)

I read that that's unnecessary now, though let me reiterate
the importance of physical destruction of the media.

In some places flavorings were allowed that were
supposedly chemically identical to the real thing.
I forget the terminology, but I think the term
"equivalent" or the equivalent was used. Edited to
add, the term used is "identical."

In that case, I certainly hope it WAS completely chemically
identical...!

There will still be some issue there. Identicality
doesn't substitute for naturalness here.

Because I was willing... I think she may have been a bit lacking in transportation at the time, as well.... and, yes, she gave me a reduced rate for that week's massage, usually a bit more rebate than I'd
actually spent... :)

Your labor was worth something.

She also took me out for lunch (her tab) regularly, and gave me a free
rub for my birthday, along with a birthday lunch... ;) I don't think I
got the raw end of the stick... :)

A nice symbiosis.

I'm hoping to get this packet out tomorrow when we go over to Edith's
for the next bbs training session... and not sure when my next chance at

I see that it worked.

Actually, we found we still could dial out, and our backup dialup ISP
account at Bluefrog worked just fine.... This morning, the dial out was
gone too... but that was because of where we were in the process of
getting it back, I think....

Eventually that will resolve (one presumes and hopes).

sending anything will be... Today, we abruptly lost our internet
service, and when I called to find out what gave, discovered that
someone has apparently stolen our phone number, and it has been ported
to some unknown company for some perfect stranger.... and that the
porting is already a done deal... We got absolutely no warning that it was in process, nothing asking for confirmation that we had in fact

How weird. That has to be reversible.

It is... and supposedly tomorrow it will all be put back into place...
at the very least our full phone service... with our DSL internet to
follow soon if not at the same time...

It's a puzzlement how that came to pass in the first place.

intended to port our number to another company... either by phone, email or letter.... We are both quietly sizzling about it.... Apparently the only notice we'll get is when we get the bill from the new company as to who it is now... but that might not even happen since it might be (probably is) going to the person that stole our number.... Dunno if
I'll even have my landline as of tomorrow....

Kind of scary, actually.

Indeed... It's been an experience, I tell you.... But after I'd written
that first message, I got a VERY competent and nice Customer Service gal working on getting things back, and today, also a very nice and
competent gal in the department that handles the porting in and out...
We are putting a lock on the account to keep it from happening again...
next time we'll get a call at the beginning to see if it's us that are
asking for the porting... and since it won't be, it won't get so far,
just dropped at that point.... :)

Competent and nice - buy a lottery ticket.

... A computer cuts your work in half and gives you back the bloody

Ye.

The Sanderling Salad
Cat: salad
Serves: 4

1/2 lb mesclun lettuce mix
1/2 c raisins
2 Tb dry sherry
1/4 c walnut halves and pieces, toasted
Sherry Walnut Vinaigrette

Soak raisins in sherry and let sit 5 min.
In a medium sized mixing bowl toss together all ingredients
until well mixed. Serve immediately.

The Sanderling, Duck, NC
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Hello Michael,

On (27 Oct 18) MICHAEL LOO wrote to NANCY BACKUS...

bad guys figuring out how to get sensitive information
out no matter how carefully wiped (physically or softwarely)
the media were. It is instilled in people dealing with
sensitive information that actual destruction is the only
really secure method.

I can understand that... :) Richard's going to let me take his bulk eraser to MD, and Dale has said he thinks that will do the job... :)

I read that that's unnecessary now, though let me reiterate
the importance of physical destruction of the media.

A perspective is that if the information is valuable enough to expend significant resources in trying to recover it, then physical
destruction is absolutely necessary. However, that would usually involve
stuff like top secret or nuclear related information. Collections of old
bank statements and old collections of recipes on floppy disks is not of
such vital importance that it would require the dedication of
significant resources to recover that information if a triple-wipe
protocol were used on the media. From what I have read, even a
single overwrite is sufficient.

The theory is that the read/write heads can move slightly as a drive
ages. That means that the erase may not quite overwrite the information.
Does that mean that someone can then plop in some software program and
recover a wiped disk? No. The process would involve some pretty
specialized hardware, something the average person is unlikely to have.
Now someone merely deleted files, then recovery of those files is very
easy as deleting just marks the space as free in the disk's directory
and does not overwrite the space. If a program such as testdisk/photorec
is used, it will search for deleted entries and recover them even if it
can't recover the file name. Only if the disk had subsequently been used
and the file space was overwritten with new files would this recovery
procedure fail for those files that had been already overwritten.

Wipedrive, Shred, or the now infamous Bleachbit are all ways to force overwriting of the drive's file space. The Secure Erase feature of newer
drives will use the drive's built-in procedures for overwriting every
space on a disk. Look up SATA secure erase for more information. DBAN
(Darik's Boot and Nuke) is a program to wipe disks where one can specify
a particular disk or using an "autonuke" function to boot and overwrite
all connected drives.

I think Dale could verify that this is accurate information. Total
security is to destroy the media, even after wiping. Wiping may be
adequate for most media though.
Regards,

Stephen
Professional Point in DOSBox running on Linux.

... Proverbs 3:13 | Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

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