[350] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
NEW RELEASE: Wipe version 0.2 (beta)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (ramin@ping.at)
Fri Nov 10 07:50:44 1995
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 01:37:23 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 November 7
Date posted: 1995 November 7
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Wipe - File Wiping Utility V0.2 Beta 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] [-n] file [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 files.
-n No Cache. This will make Wipe bypass the FileSystem's cache for writing,
and will make Wipe work slow.
file(s) the file(s) to be processed.
You must enter he flags separately, use "wipe -s -n somefile" as opposed to
"wipe -sn somefile". The second variant will abort in error or just do
nothing.
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 command line (30 tested).
* 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.
* Selective usage of the filesystem cache. Wipe V0.2 will, contrary to V0.1,
use the filesystem's cache by default. You can now turn off using the cache
from the command line in order to write directly to the disk.
Note that this feature will not turn off the cache's lazywrite mode, but
only bypass writing to the cache for the files processed. There will be no
difference for other files or applications running on your system.
* Will rename the files to a dummy name before unlinking them. This will
IMHO introduce one more source of trouble for data scavengers.
* The processing of each file is now an atomic, uninterruptible, action.
This means that CTRL-C and other async signals received by the process when
it is working on a file will be deferred until processing this file has been
completed. This is to make sure that no file is left in an undefined state,
from which one could potentially recover data.
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.
* Use of wildcards. This will come soon. You can type any number of files on
the command line 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 on the filesystem's fnodes ?
* Eliminating the file's presence from the system profiles is a new area
of concern, and is not beeing done for now.
* Any wishes ?
New/changed/corrected in V0.2 :
* Straightened out some code for better stability. It will not more abort the
whole session when unusual situations, like SYS0032, are found on one file.
Instead, you will now get an error message and Wipe will skip to the next
file.
* Corrected some internal errors and rooted out some stupid logic.
* Added some verbosity to allow you to see what is beeing done. In addition to
error messages delivered to stderr, you will get current status on each file
beeing processed on stdout.
* Selective use of the Filesystem cache. V0.1 used to bypass the cache by
default, Wipe V0.2 uses the cache by default and allows you to turn cache
usage off.
* Files will now be renamed to a dummy name before beeing unlinked.
* Minor corrections and extensions to the documentation.
* The processing of each file is now an atomic, uninterruptible, action.
In Wipe V0.1 it was possible to press CTRL-C in the middle of wiping
a file, which could potentially leave undeleted data on the disk.
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
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 'wipe02b.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
alt.org.team-os2
