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From: "Its from Onion" <areda..._at_msn.com>
Subject: flash/thumb drives security
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:16:22 -0600
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I thought this interesting; you may want to consider what data (like bankin=
g information) you keep on a thumb drive. The information is via the US Nav=
y's Chief Information Officer (CIO):
The reason that hard drives and USB thumb drives must be treated differentl=
y deals with the physics that allows the two devices to work and the inner =
workings of the operating systems on which they are used. Hard drives are c=
omprised of one or more magnetic platters that store information by magneti=
cally aligning particles. This process is fully reversible and the theoreti=
cal number of writes to magnetic media is infinite. Locations on magnetic m=
edia are usually referred to by platter, track, and sector. Operating syste=
ms and file system tools allow for the precise targeting of write operation=
s down to the sector without interference.
USB thumb drives and other flash media (i.e. digital camera media) are comp=
rised of NAND media that store information by writing to "cells." Every tim=
e one of these cells is written to, a small amount of non-reversible damage=
occurs to the cell. This physical destruction limits the number of writes =
to a particular cell to a few million. In order to extend the life of USB t=
humb drives, manufacturers include a chip on the drives that randomizes whi=
ch cells are written to. This makes it impossible to control exactly which =
cell is written to. The reason this is important has to do with the operati=
ng system's interaction with the file system.
In the NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 file systems used by Microsoft operating system=
s (and most thumb drives), data from files that have been "deleted" is stil=
l present in the media on which it was written. In these file systems the f=
irst "block" of data contains information about the file including the size=
of the file and the locations (sectors or cells) on the media where the re=
st of the file can be found. When a file is "deleted," the file system only=
notifies the operating system that locations on the media that are occupie=
d by this file are now available for writing. The data itself is not actual=
ly removed. Historically, DoD available disc wiping tools overwrote the old=
data with an alternating passes of 1's and 0's. Per DoD instruction, the d=
isc was considered wiped clean when seven passes of 1's and 0's were writte=
n to every location that previously contained data. Magnetic media allows f=
or this precision writing; however, the
cell randomization techniques used to prolong the life of thumb drives do n=
ot.
"Wiping" is the most secure method of cleansing unwanted data from media. U=
nwanted data includes not only classified materials, but also malware and v=
iruses. The inability to securely wipe thumb drives, their small size, and =
the difficulty in controlling their use, are why thumb drives are no longer=
permitted, but USB hard drives are.
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<P><BR>I thought this interesting; you may want to consider what data (like=
banking information) you keep on a thumb drive. The information is via the =
US
Navy's Chief Information Officer (CIO):<BR><BR>The reason that hard drives =
and
USB thumb drives must be treated differently deals with the physics that al=
lows
the two devices to work and the inner workings of the operating systems on =
which
they are used. Hard drives are comprised of one or more magnetic platters t=
hat
store information by magnetically aligning particles. This process is fully=
reversible and the theoretical number of writes to magnetic media is infini=
te.
Locations on magnetic media are usually referred to by platter, track, and=
sector. Operating systems and file system tools allow for the precise targe=
ting
of write operations down to the sector without interference.<BR><BR>USB thu=
mb
drives and other flash media (i.e. digital camera media) are comprised of N=
AND
media that store information by writing to “cells.” Every time one of t=
hese
cells is written to, a small amount of non-reversible damage occurs to the =
cell.
This physical destruction limits the number of writes to a particular cell =
to a
few million. In order to extend the life of USB thumb drives, manufacturers=
include a chip on the drives that randomizes which cells are written to. Th=
is
makes it impossible to control exactly which cell is written to. The reason=
this
is important has to do with the operating system’s interaction with the f=
ile
system.<BR><BR>In the NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 file systems used by Microsoft=
operating systems (and most thumb drives), data from files that have been=
“deleted” is still present in the media on which it was written. In the=
se file
systems the first “block” of data contains information about the file i=
ncluding
the size of the file and the locations (sectors or cells) on the media wher=
e the
rest of the file can be found. When a file is “deleted,” the file syste=
m only
notifies the operating system that locations on the media that are occupied=
by
this file are now available for writing. The data itself is not actually
removed. Historically, DoD available disc wiping tools overwrote the old da=
ta
with an alternating passes of 1’s and 0’s. Per DoD instruction, the dis=
c was
considered wiped clean when seven passes of 1’s and 0’s were written to=
every
location that previously contained data. Magnetic media allows for this
precision writing; however, the<BR>cell randomization techniques used to pr=
olong
the life of thumb drives do not. <BR><BR>“Wiping” is the most secure me=
thod of
cleansing unwanted data from media. Unwanted data includes not only classif=
ied
materials, but also malware and viruses. The inability to securely wipe thu=
mb
drives, their small size, and the difficulty in controlling their use, are =
why
thumb drives are no longer permitted, but USB hard drives
are.<BR></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:25 CST