Destroying SD / Data Security

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pb_lonny

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Given the information that is recorded on SD cards and the files we keep on our PC's (configs, audio files, loggings) do you consider the safest / best way of destroying any of this data or ways for keeping it secure?

This has come to mind as recently I lost a USB key and this had a lot of audio recordings on it, some were a bit sensitive as they related to some incidents here.
 

kudzu_kid

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Not quite enough info here for me to go on, maybe others can help.

What is doing the writing? A PC? A SDS200?

If you're just wanting a secure USB flash drive that could be remotely managed (wiped), there are $olution$ out there, e.g.: KanGuru drives, etc.

I'll be interested to see any other comments here.
 

pb_lonny

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Thanks for the reply.

My question was around if we give any thought to:
1. What information we keep.
2. How we store this.
3. How we destroy it if needed.

Lets say you have audio files of different incidents, do you keep these stored in a secure manner? Do you secure your radios when they are not in use?
 

KevinC

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Are you recording secure communications? If not I don't see how someone gaining access to any audio files would be an issue as the original transmissions were in the clear to begin with.

But maybe I'm not understanding your reasoning.
 

R8000

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10 Seconds in a microwave should do it. And it'd be fun !
 

chrismol1

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10 Seconds in a microwave should do it. And it'd be fun !

Watched a bank robbery movie recently, they carried jugs of bleach and dumped it all over everything and then threw all the security harddrives and disks in the microwave set it for 20:00 and ran out
 

fxdscon

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10 Seconds in a microwave should do it. And it'd be fun !

I have a microwave in my shop for just that purpose (well, it actually does other duties too). The business next door went bankrupt several years ago, and at the auction I won a real cheap bid on a TurboChef 240 volt - 6700 watt industrial microwave.

It's setup with a high vacuum/filtration/ventilation system that's used for other fabrication equipment here. Makes very short work of data security. The door doesn't have a window in it so you can't see the show but it sure sounds angry when it's running.

Watched a bank robbery movie recently, they carried jugs of bleach and dumped it all over everything and then threw all the security harddrives and disks in the microwave set it for 20:00 and ran out

Yep, had a laugh when I saw that.... "The Town" was the movie.

.
 

Floridarailfanning

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I don't see how someone gaining access to any audio files would be an issue as the original transmissions were in the clear to begin with.
There is plenty of stuff that goes out in the clear that should have been encrypted. I hear people's socials and other PIA regularly along with descriptions of informants and UC vehicles almost daily.

Being sent in the clear doesn't make that information any less "sensitive."

Now, who knows what the legality of recording and maintaining copies of calls containing said information is.
 

pb_lonny

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There is plenty of stuff that goes out in the clear that should have been encrypted. I hear people's socials and other PIA regularly along with descriptions of informants and UC vehicles almost daily.

Being sent in the clear doesn't make that information any less "sensitive."

Now, who knows what the legality of recording and maintaining copies of calls containing said information is.

This was exactly what I was thinking... What if we write down information like this, do we have a responsibility to keep it secure, no matter how we come to be in possession of it?
 

GlobalNorth

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As a third party listener, you are under no legal obligation to engage in data security for monitored communications.

Data thieves want credit card numbers, passwords, etc.
 

questnz

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Paul, up to you how do you destroy the data, hammer method already mentioned above is my best pick. But why would you is another question?
if you must, before you destroy anything, copy to secure storage if you want to access something in the future.
Personally I keep copy of all my personal data files on encrypted mega.nz cloud storage. You get very generous 50 GB free storage, fully encrypted and Mega don't store any keys to decrypt your storage. There is NO backdoor to your Data even for Law Enforcement!
I don't think ASIO will be interested what you are listening to on legal scanner and publicly transmitted frequencies in this parts of the World
 
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iMONITOR

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Personally I keep copy of all my personal data files on encrypted mega.nz cloud storage. You get very generous 50 GB free storage, fully encrypted and Mega don't store any keys to decrypt your storage. There is NO backdoor to your Data even for Law Enforcement!

They're not even in the U.S. :cautious::unsure:o_O How do you know if they can be trusted? Not saying I would trust the U.S. anymore these days either. Just look back on our history.
 

questnz

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They're not even in the U.S. :cautious::unsure:o_O How do you know if they can be trusted? Not saying I would trust the U.S. anymore these days either. Just look back on our history.
Because they not in US doesn't mean they cant be trusted, Mega was setup originally by Kim Dotcom (no longer involved) who still have a extradition case pending with FBI to be charged in US for money laundering and US copy rights. After his arrest in NZ Dotcom setup Mega to show FBI that his new venture cannot be breach easily like old Megaupload was, therefore they implemented full encryption and NO backdoor keys stored on the servers.
After Christchurch shootings last year by the gunman, NZ cops asked Mega to hand over all data stored by the gunman, they say nothing to hand over they don't have access to gunman's data stored on Mega. No password, no data to encode. Dotcom also make sure that new Mega is out of US and NSA jurisdiction, legal process to get this stuff out of Mega could be very long as with Dotcom extradition, he is still n NZ despite years gone by trying. Similar to Protonmail or many VPN's setup out of reach from long arm of the US Law.
 
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questnz

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Yes agree, all large Data Centers Hard Drives ending up shredded. Zillions of Terabytes of Data. Not sure about SD cards. Actually best way to protect Paul's data and retain the SD cards or USB drives is to encrypt everything with Veracrypt or Axcrypt before storage. Veracrypt can encrypt files, container within drive or the whole drive. Then when he need the SD back in use just decrypt it. Safest way to store and keep everything for future use without destroying anything.
 
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