computers and getting raided in nz

[mahuta]

just had a mate get his house searched (they had a warrant) for a matter unrelated to weed. the cops found 5 seedlings on a windowsill - destroyed them and were let off with a warning - but he thinks they took his son's (they were his plants) computer hard drive and/or memory sticks - he dosen't know anything about computers (old/old stoner). is this allowed or what? he wasn't charged with drugs and the warrant was for his son damaging a phone box. are the cops allowed to take a computer drive if cannabis is found? and what if nothing is found. i'm thinking about my own hard drive and cruising the cannabis web. cheers mahuta

 

[madcease]

Yes in Australia they will take it and get everything the bloke has every looked at even though he erased it.

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

I have tuneupshredder, a nice program for deleting incriminating information. It will do what is known as a class 5 wipe.

Deletion method: "Secure delete in accordance with DOD 5220"
I will actually do that 5 repetitions. You should always delete anything incriminating in this manner. Wouldn't have saved your friend here from anything on his computer, but maybe stuff he thought he deleted in the past. Keep all incriminating items hidden away and together, so if you have a chance you can shred them.

 

[mahuta]

so how can you delete pages you've surfed - say all the pages i've read on IC? and make it unfindable by the filth if computer is taken? - if i add a photo here and get raided, they find it - i'm nailed!!!!

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

shred your tempoary internet files and history?

 

[JWP]

only one way... dban... then a sledge hammer

 

[sativa4ever]

what if yu install windows again from scratch on computer, wouldnt that delete everything???

 

[BENJI]

what if yu install windows again from scratch on computer, wouldnt that delete everything???

You could install windows 50 times over and there still would be some traces of what you've done on your hard drive you can either get a good shredding or deleating program otherwise just put a nice strong magnet next to your hard drive that'll do the trick but you will never be able to use that same hard drive again...Or you could use JWP's method with the sledgehammer...lol

 

[boroboro]

OK, not as good a solution as the sledgehammer and sealed concrete underground vault, but here's what I do:

1. Use a browser with documented features and limited OS integration, such as Firefox or Opera.
2. Configure the browser to store all cache files, bookmarks, history, etc. on a virtual drive created by an encryption program such as Truecrypt (http://truecrypt.org).
3. Unmount encrypted virtual drives when PC not in use.

Not perfect, but better than a sledgehammer...

 

[Dank-j]

Data on DISK DRIVES are basically stored as an UP or DOWN "ticks" indicating either a 1 or a 0. When you delete something the 1 or 0 isn't erased, the disk index is modified saying that the drive can utilize that space again for something different.

The problem with this is even if you say you deleted a file, the file was never deleted, just the index. If you really want your drive CLEAN and unreadable, smash it into a billion pieces or run software that ZERO's the drive. (this forces the up and down "tick" to be all set the same thus actually overriding the content on the drive.

http://www.fileshredder.org/ <--- scrambles a hard drive with random data to make info retrieval impossible.

+K to boroboro for truecrypt, if you have information thats incriminating enough that nobody should ever find it, truecrypt is the answer. Don't assume you'll have time to clean your drive.

 

[Herbasaurus]

Sure delte is also a free program that overwrites deleted files.

Set up firefox to delete history after use.

also visiting cannabis sites is not illegal, at least not yet, but keep an eye on laws like one proposed in australia to censor sites they deem "harmful to children"

also, I think you can encrypt your whole hard drive so that it can't be read using pgp or something similar - would like to find out more about this if anyone has info

 

[forester]

Data on DISK DRIVES are basically stored as an UP or DOWN "ticks" indicating either a 1 or a 0. When you delete something the 1 or 0 isn't erased, the disk index is modified saying that the drive can utilize that space again for something different.

The problem with this is even if you say you deleted a file, the file was never deleted, just the index. If you really want your drive CLEAN and unreadable, smash it into a billion pieces or run software that ZERO's the drive. (this forces the up and down "tick" to be all set the same thus actually overriding the content on the drive.

http://www.fileshredder.org/ <--- scrambles a hard drive with random data to make info retrieval impossible.

+K to boroboro for truecrypt, if you have information thats incriminating enough that nobody should ever find it, truecrypt is the answer. Don't assume you'll have time to clean your drive.

Say if I used this program, am I able to continue using the computer afterwards? Or is it something that you do to a computer you are going to get rid of anyway?

God knows Ive surfed some porn on the work laptop, this stuff may come in handy.

 

[Wev]

Surfing on pot forums aint no crime. They are only searching for Illegal sick shit.If you got it you are gone and Grease up charlie you are in for one long painful ride.

 

[mahuta]

thats correct wev - but what if you add photos of your cannabis grows? - i have a feeling you can be had for that. - mahuta

 

[Wev]

Your Grows or one found online? its only the current grow that you will be busted raped and tortured over. The past is the past unless you labelled 1972 grow through to current you should not waste any sleep over this. The computer is your Mind. Of course they want to get inside and take a look around in your world.

 

[happyherb]

will post here as to book mark it for some of the putter tips....

and also...if they take hard drives ect....they dont have to give them back until the case/trail is over and done with.HH. =]-~

 

[Rapscallion Lad]

I work in an electronics shop, and among other things we do laptop and computer repairs. I have a good relationship with one of the guys who does that work and he tells me that he can retrieve just about any kind of information from a hard drive, whether that data has been mistakenly deleted, wiped by a virus or whatever. Anything that you delete, is not removed from your computer. Its simply archived elsewhere. And an IT dude with the right knowledge and tools can retrieve that data in 20 minutes. Even stuff you deleted 12 months ago (although, apparently it gets harder to retrieve data as time goes by). My colleague retrieves lost or deleted data on a regular basis for clients.

The only sure way to destroy a file is to over-write it:

Say you have a file and you want to get rid of it (like a pic of your latest grow: weedplant.jpg)
in another directory create a new file and name it the same. (you can great a new text file, but just name it weedplant.jpg)
Then copy the new file to to the directory of the file u wanna remove.

You'll get a message saying, 'do you want to replace this file'. You say 'yes'. (so you've replaced the sensitive file with the newly created empty one.)
Then repeat this process 2-3 times. This will destroy the original file, and any legendary IT dude who snoops on ur PC will find a file called 'weedplant.jpg' but there wont be any image inside it... make sense?

Also, the normal process of formatting a harddrive and doing a windows re-install... apparently will still not remove all of the data from before. Apparently (I find this kinda hard to believe) its still possible to get to information that was on the HD before the re-install.

There are programs that you can use that WILL erase everything from the harddrive... wipe it clean so nothing can ever be retrieved again. (I know there are free programs, but im not sure what they are called, although I could find out).

But yeah i read earlier on this thread a dude suggested using a sledge hammer. Thats the truth man. If you have had shit on ur HD that you are worried would lead to you being charged, I hafta say the most fail safe way is a fkn 10-pound hammer + a chisel followed by a bucket of water. And make sure you unscrew the casing and smash the round, spinning part specifically.

 

[sorcival]

I use the 'KILL' button method.
Meaning: Two ways to make a blank hard drive with NO data at all......

Method #1. NIBBLER...back in the day a DOS program was around called a 'nibbler'.
This meant that it was a track and sector editor that had the ability
to 'nibble' the bits that make up a binary digital word. Using a nibbler
on 'automate' would alow you to set up parameters of nibbling and
timing of 'erasure nibble'. An erasure nibble would literally 'eat' all the
data stored on a hard drive leaving nothing behind. Fast for smaller
hard drives. Avg. time on 20 Mb hard drive is 30 mins. or so.

Method #2. DOS batch program that 'writes' to your hard drive in binary a running
continuous series of '0's and or '1's.
CPU intensive and speed dependent on CPU, but normally VERY fast.
Avg. time for 200 Gb hard drive is about 20 seconds or so.
For each terabyte of informational data located on said hard drive
the overwrite time would be approx. 2 mins or thereabouts.

I have the method #2 hooked up to a key sequence on my keyboard, so that at any
given moment, POOF....'voila, no more of anything. The drive is still usable, and any
operating system can be installed as though it were brand new drive.

'WARNING'...unless you have some decent batch programming skills, understand both
hexadecimal and binary as opposed to basic, COBOL, FORTRAN, pascal, or c++..then
DO NOT attempt this alone without tech help from a knowledgeable person.

 

[vicious bee]

Use truecrypt to encrypt your hard drive. Look it up industrial strength open source free. It also has a mode, I haven't tried yet, that encrypts your windows disc so no index or temp. files can be read.