I took half a dozen disk drives out of ancient computers from an elderly relative's house prior to recycling them. I could have tried to power them up, connect them to a working computer and used software tools to erase them but that did not seem to be a good use of my time. Instead, I put a 3/16" bit in my hand drill and drilled a single hole in each one through the platters. It was quick. It was fun.<p>I am satisfied that this is a suitable defense against any reasonable threat model. Worst case if I had done nothing at all would be the acquisition of a few decades-old tax returns. I think there are easier ways of collecting a few social security numbers, if that is someone's goal.<p>But I am curious. I suspect that state-level actors might actually be able to get something out of a platter with a single hole in it. Is this true? Are there commercial companies that could tackle this? How much would it cost?<p>I bet someone on HN knows the answer, or maybe even has experience with this kind of problem.
If they are spinning rust, then a drilled hole is sufficient against most forms of data recovery. A plastic syringe full of CLR <i>Calcium Lime Rust</i> remover injected into the drilled hole will finish the job.<p>If money is not a factor then it's a lot easier and faster to take them to a shredding service. [1][2] Shredding disks regardless of spinning rust or SSD will make data recovery nearly impossible.<p>[1] - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQYPCPB1g3o" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQYPCPB1g3o</a><p>[2] - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-onP1XPJwo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-onP1XPJwo</a>
If no chips are harmed and luckily no MFT files on the plate is missing then the chance of reading something nasty might be close to zero - if the attacker has some HDD restoring skills. But usually people with this kind of skill have a better use of their time by earning a lot of money and if regular attacker uses HDD restoring service then he has to pay a lot of money to serviceman which seems not worth of it. So, you did a good job if destroying a working thing might be considered as something good.
Plenty of legit (non state actor) services that do this ie. my google produced this asa the top result after the ads <a href="https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/data-recovery-services/devices-supported/hard-drive-recovery/" rel="nofollow">https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/data-recovery-services/d...</a>
you would need software that does low level disk access with the ability to just ignore a problem and carry on with the read. most important is you need to find the directory listings on the drive to align the bits into meaningful files.<p>you may also have a problem with the hole unbalancing the platter and causing orbital procession.<p>profe$$ional cost$ for thi$ a$ a $ervice is extreme.[$$$]<p>[also] you may find this informative:<p><a href="https://www.datarecoup.com/blog/hard-drive-recovery/hdd-low-level-format-in-bios" rel="nofollow">https://www.datarecoup.com/blog/hard-drive-recovery/hdd-low-...</a>