You have multiple files that you decide you want to get rid of. So, you right-click and select 'Delete' and then it's gone, right? Wrong. This is because files on your computer are accessed through a file allocation table, which tells the operating system where in your disk a file can be found. These are marked on the file allocation table by it's identifier. When you delete a file you are not really deleting it off your computer, but are instead simply removing it's entry on the file allocation table so that the computer can no longer access it. This brings us to the second step, how can we securely and safely remove this information? To understand this we can approach it from two different methods, either locking it up with an un-crackable password, or attempting to rid it. In my opinion I would say it is much safer to remove something rather than lock it up in a cubicle.

The process securely removing information happens when you can remove it and write it over with bits of random data multiple times. However, it is difficult for the average uneducated computer user to differentiate between how many is not enough. 7 passes is the national standard for the U.S. government, the NSA, and many different branches of the U.S. government. 8 passes is the national standard for Canada's government. Well since the government uses this many it must really work, right? Wrong again. 7 or 8 passes is nothing to break, the most passes that has ever been recovered by the U.S government is 14 passes. That being said, Britian's national standard for overwritting files is 38. It seems we are still behind in the times as far as some areas are concerned. Well someone then said "Enough is enough, we can fix this problem!" that someone is the infamous Peter Gutman. And so came the 'Gutman Method'. The Gutman Method just not only overwrites data with 35 passes, but it does much more than that. Of course this discussion could be an article all in it's own.

You may be thinking "Well this is nice information, but how do I utilize this technique to my own advantage?" Well to answer that question there are a number of applications you can use to securely erase files, and yes, even your entire hard drive. The best option to erase files is a nice program called "Window Washer". This application is created by the same company who created the Anti-Spyware program I've mentioned in my previous articles, SpySweeper. With Window Washer you can select between Quick method(1 pass), DoD(7 passes), NSA(14 passes), Gutman(35 passes), and Random(you select your own number of passes manually). Window Washer also gives you the option of creating a bootable disk to wipe your HDD with the same methods listed above. However, I highly highly recommend something called "Darik's Boot and Nuke" or DBAN. This is a boot disk that gives you the passes mentioned above, while giving you different methods of magnetic wiping methods.

Pretty much the idea here is that if you can pile tons of useless information onto something it becomes unreadable. And rightfully so. However, it isn't a fool-proof method of erasing anything. Sure, there is probably no way to recover something has been passed over, say, 60 times. But if you want a 0% chance of your data not being recovered is to cut it up, set it on fire, blow it up, and scatter it in 5,000 pieces in different places around the world. And even then, who knows?