[274] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
NEW OS/2 UTILITY: Wipe version 0.1a (beta)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (ramin@ping.at)
Fri Oct 20 10:28:47 1995
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 09:23:53 GMT
From: ramin@ping.at
Reply-To: ramin@ping.at
Submitted by: Ramin Darakhschani (ramin@ping.at)
Source: Ramin Darakhschani (ramin@ping.at)
Date received: 1995 October 14
Date posted: 1995 October 18
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Wipe - File Wiping Utility V0.1a for OS/2
(c) 1995 Ramin Darakhschani <ramin@ping.at>
* * * THIS IS A BETA RELEASE * * *
Synopsis:
This program will overwrite and remove the specified file(s) from
your disk forever. Each sector of the file(s) will be overwritten with
character 0xF6 and it's bit-reverse (0x09) three times before resetting
it's size to zero bytes and unlinking it.
0xF6 is character written into sectors by FORMAT when initializing a disk.
Why use this program ?
The normal DEL function of OS/2 will only unlink() the file(s) deleted
from its directory entry, so if you have an appropriate tool it is still
possible to recover the contents of the so deleted file(s), even on
HPFS partitions. It is also possible to recover contents from formatted
disks if special hardware to scan disk and reconstruct magnetic signals
is available, which is what some 'law enforcement' agencies or very
smart spies would do to get their hands on your sensitive data.
If you are really paranoid or have reasons to think that the governments
thugs, spies, crooks or other unpleasant existences are after your data,
then you should consider using this tool.
While I don't guarantee that using this tool will make it absolutely
impossible for somebody with enough resources to recover your data,
it will surely make their job much harder. If you want your data to be
REALLY unrecoverable, think about degaussing or burning your disks.
* From the PGP Manual:
It's personal. It's private. And it's no one's business but yours.
Usage : WIPE [[-s] file1 [file...]] , where
When called without arguments you get a short usage help.
-s Silent mode. Don't ask 'Are you sure (Y/N) ?' before wiping
the files.
file(s) the file(s) to be processed.
Supported and tested features:
* Longnames, in fact, anything that is syntactically correct.
Exception: Files CANNOT begin with a dash '-' or slash '/'
* Any number of files on commandline.
* Any order of the arguments will work.
* File specifiers can be up to 255 characters long each including path and
drive names.
* Files can be anywhere, including network drives. I haven't tested
files on network drives but think it should work as long as you have
access rights to the files. Feedback on this issue is welcome.
Unsupported features (To do / coming soon) :
* Input redirection, meaning you can't take the files from a file list ,
like in `wipe -s < responsefile'. This is planned for a future release.
* Extended overwrite mode. Overwrite the file 3 times with 8 different
patterns before deleting.
* Selectively using the cache or not. Wipe does currently bypass the
file system's cache when writing to files, which makes it slow (?).
* Verbosity to allow you to see what is beeing done. Currently, you
will only get error messages delivered to stderr.
* Use of wildcards. This will come soon. You can type any number of
files on the commandline instead.
* Extended Attributes. This release will only process the file itself.
EA support is planned for a future release
* Subdirectory recursion is not yet implemented.
* Zapping the f-node of the files should also be done.
Does anybody know the API calls to work directly on the f-nodes ?
* Any wishes ?
Contacting the Author :
COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS are always welcome.
Write me a note at <ramin@ping.at> if you found a bug or would like
improvements. You can also send me snailmail to
Ramin Darakhschani-Mayer
Schulgasse 63/22
A-1180 WIEN AUSTRIA - EUROPA
Where to find Wipe ?
The file will be called WIPEnn[b].ZIP, where nn is a version number,
and the [b] is an optional 'b' indicating a beta (trial) release.
The archive of the current release is called 'wipe01b.zip'.
I will distribute new releases to following sites:
INTERNET:
ftp://ftp.leo.org
ftp://ftp-os2.cdrom.com
FIDONET:
LA BAMBA BBS 2:310/14 (+43 1) 618 6511
New releases will be announced on Usenet to
alt.2600.moderated
comp.os.os2.announce
