Le 23/07/2012 10:05, Invisible a écrit :
>> If the data on drive was so sensitive, I would use chemistry first. Then
>> a bit of heavy hammer physic, and finally a good heat with partial
>> ionisation, at temperature far above the curie point.
>>
>> Boiling HCl is probably enough, as a starter. (get ride of most iron&
>> steel). Wear a protective mask and operate under well vented condition.
> 
> I'm not so sure acid would actually work. You're assuming that the layer
> of iron is at the surface; this is not necessarily the case. It may well
> have a layer of lacquer on top.
> 
> Also, you would /think/ that soaking plastic in a wide range of
> hydrocarbon solvents would destroy it. But having personally tried it
> with almost the entire contents of our lab's reagent cupboards, I can
> confirm that this is not the case at all. Similarly, mineral acids are
> probably not the flesh-eating monsters we all see on TV.

I had first hand experience (now more than 25 years ago) with *boiling*
HCl. It really eats iron (but not as speedy as shown on TV).

Main interest of HCl, expecially boiling: its huge oxydation capacity.
Nearly all metals are going into solution with enough time (gold,
platine and a few would need to play with regal water (which means
getting some nitric acid... that one is difficult to find as free use
(regulated as components for making explosives))

You do not have to open the disc: put the whole boxed disc inside the
boiling acid and let it work. The metal goes away (including a clean
PCB: no more tracks...)
The engines are deleted as well, and the springs, and the heads...

> 
> I have also discovered that most drives seem to have platters made of
> glass. It's really very, very easy to shatter these, requiring no
> specialist equipment at all. (Beyond some way of undoing the screws.
> They quite often require unusual drivers... A drill sometimes does the
> job though.)

Platters are made of glass since 2003, IIRC. Yet, a shattered platter
could be readable by the alien technology, so better rinse them first
and get ride of the magnetic coverage.

Why drill when the acid is there for you. The crew are gone, the casing
is gone...
Put the drive in the acid in the morning, plenty of time to read the
comics while the drive get destroyed: profit!

> 
> The Curie point of pure iron is 770°C. My oven only goes up to 250°C.
> (This is probably related to the fact that my oven is *made of* iron!)
> You would need some kind of industrial kiln.

The "ionisation" was to be done with some plasma torch, or alike.
Just check the plasma temperature vs the curie point.

At worst, acetylen+oxygen is high enough for that (3200°C) and not a
problem to get a hand on (usual welding).

> 
> The melting point of glass varies by type. Borosilicate glass melts at
> "only" 800°C, but most types melt at well over 1,00°C. (The median
> temperature is listed as 1,700°C.) Good luck finding an oven that hot!
> 
> Really, unless you work for the DOD, a software wipe with /any/ data
> pattern, followed by some gentle prodding with a hammer is quite
> sufficient.

DOD has its own procedure. And they can provide the equipment.

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