GNU bug report logs - #27420
Self Destruct - Self Erase of All Data On SD Card Using Shred,

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From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Ruediger Meier <sweet_f_a <at> gmx.de>
Cc: 27420 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, John Shearing <johnshearing <at> gmail.com>
Subject: bug#27420: Self Destruct - Self Erase of All Data On SD Card Using Shred,
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:09:31 -0700

On 22/06/17 01:02, Ruediger Meier wrote:
> On Sunday 18 June 2017, Pádraig Brady wrote:
>> tag 27420 notabug
>> close 27420
>> stop
>>
>> On 18/06/17 00:22, John Shearing wrote:
>>> favorite
>>> <https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/68635/self-destruc
>>> t-self-erase-of-all-data-on-sd-card-using-shred-dd-or-some-other#>
>>>
>>> I will be using a raspberry pi as an air-gapped computer to make
>>> secure encrypted transactions on the Ethereum BlockChain. Once in
>>> awhile I will want to update the software I am using which will
>>> mean taking the SD card out of the pi and inserting it into a
>>> laptop computer which is connected to the Internet. I would like to
>>> use some program or command line utility on the raspberry pi to
>>> securely erase everything on the SD card before removing it as this
>>> will eliminate all possibility of sensitive information being read
>>> off the SD card by bad actors which may have compromised my laptop.
>>>
>>> The following command typed in at the pi terminal conveys the idea
>>> of what I hope to accomplish:
>>> shred --verbose *.*
>>>
>>> Is this possible using shred?
>>
>> shred already supports passing multiple files, however
>> you would be much safer shredding at the device level,
>> since there is all sort of reallocation etc. happening within
>> filesystems. I.E. something along the lines of:
>>
>>   SDCARD=/dev/sdb1
>>   umount $SDCARD
>>   shred --verbose $SDCARD
>>   mkfs.ext4 $SDCARD
>>
>> Note you can partition the SDCARD if there only a portion that
>> you want to destructively recreate like this.
> 
> Does schred support SSD on the lowlevel? I don't think you can truly 
> wipe na SSD by overwriting it, especially if you would overwrite only a 
> file or partition

This is a good point and already mentioned in the shred info docs.
That mainly protects against sophisticated access to the device though,
whereas the case here is for standard access (through a compromised laptop).

cheers,
Pádraig

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