Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by masklinn 3690 days ago
> This functionality already exists in GNU coreutils, it's done by the shred(1) command. No need to install any extra third-party software, shred is already installed.

That's only true for GNU-based userlands, not BSD-based ones.

> Also, as another commenter already pointed out, this kind of in-place overwrite is not guaranteed to work on SSDs

And if the system properly TRIMs it might not be necessary at all, though that greatly depends on the SSD.
4 comments
throwaway7767 3690 days ago
> That's only true for GNU-based userlands, not BSD-based ones.

Sure, but installing (a subset of) GNU coreutils is probably going to pull in a lot fewer dependencies than this JavaScript command line tool. Plus, you can use ports, no need to mess with a seperate package manager (npm) and the associated package verification foibles.

> And if the system properly TRIMs it might not be necessary at all, though that greatly depends on the SSD.

The "depends on the SSD" is a big one. Various recent forensic papers have shown that it can take a while until a TRIM'd sector is actually erased by the firmware.

I still think that if this kind of thing causes worries, full-disk encryption is really the only sensible solution.

link
masklinn 3690 days ago
> Sure, but installing (a subset of) GNU coreutils is probably going to pull in a lot fewer dependencies than this JavaScript command line tool.

No objection here. Though the original note is right, you just pointed to the wrong tool:

> I still think that if this kind of thing causes worries, full-disk encryption is really the only sensible solution.

And full agreement there.

link
DannyBee 3690 days ago
"That's only true for GNU-based userlands, not BSD-based ones. "

  RM(1)                     BSD General Commands Manual                    RM(1)
...

  -P          Overwrite regular files before deleting them.  Files are
              overwritten three times, first with the byte pattern 0xff,
              then 0x00, and then 0xff again, before they are deleted.
link
GalacticDomin8r 3690 days ago
> That's only true for GNU-based userlands, not BSD-based ones.

"rm -P" with the same caveats as the GNU implementation.

link
Jaepa 3690 days ago
for BSD-base systems there is srm (secure remove), which overwrites, renames, & trucates before unlinking.

https://www.freshports.org/security/srm/

link