My nudes are about to be compromised.

[Muscadine_Eyes]

I have my laptop with all the pictures from the year I spent here. My dad wants me to give my laptop to an I.T. person. What should I do? Are the pics. relatively safe?

 

[NightL]

Are the pics. relatively safe?

Nope - not at all. Can't really offer a positive ring to that - sorry

Get the pics off there asap - or you find an I.T. person you trust to do what ever is necessary and sit with them while they do the work.

 

[GrrlFriday]

I wouldn't consider them safe. What is your computer going in for?

If you have a read of this reddit thread, you'll notice that one of the common themes is 'oops, i used my pics as a screensaver/background', but a few also say that even if they're not looking for nude pics, they find nude pics. Some say that they don't look, but they know that their coworkers do.


http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/q0x8i/computer_repair_guys_what_is_the_craziest_stuff/

Not sure that reddit is representative of all I.T. personnel, but I'd get rid of the pics.

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

Okay. Thank you both for your advice. I will have to keep my father from giving it to anyone, even if it means hanging onto it broken for all eternity. My brother could fix it and I could sit by and watch him do it. (He isn't the nosey type.)

 

[BuckyDuckman]

You could use some encryption software to hide the pics. Truecrypt is one I've used in the past. Lifehacker has five programs rated. Encryption is the best way to go. You don't lose your pictures, no one else can see them and you can get to them easily. Personally, I think that's good enough advice to pay me back with one free nude. (I'm KIDDING!) Enjoy!

 

[NippleMuncher]

You don't say what is broken on your computer, however, if you still can access the hard drive, you can transfer your images to a thumb drive, then delete them. While this won't strip them from the computer, it will at least stop the average person from being able to view them.

If the computer is junk, then pull the hard drive out and destroy it yourself before sending the computer off to recycle or repair.

 

[Hypoxia]

You don't say what is broken on your computer, however, if you still can access the hard drive, you can transfer your images to a thumb drive, then delete them. While this won't strip them from the computer, it will at least stop the average person from being able to view them.

After DELETE, do a diskwipe with something like ERASER (free) or other disk-overwriting warez. A good multi-pass overwrite won't stop the NSA from recovering your nudes, but you're otherwise fairly safe from discovery.

If the computer is junk, then pull the hard drive out and destroy it yourself before sending the computer off to recycle or repair.

DESTROY THE DRIVE means exactly that. Or at least disassemble it, pull the platters, and leave them MUNGed (Mashed Until No Good). A 12-gauge shotgun is a wonderful platter-disposal tool.

No, throwing the drive into a campfire won't do the trick. Data can be recovered from platters that have been through fires, explosions, plane crashes, all sorts of trauma. Now, if I wanted to securely dispose of data, I might take a San-Francisco-to-Sausalito ferryboat ride, and lose the drive overboard about halfway across the Golden Gate. Ker-splash and adios.

 

[NippleMuncher]

After DELETE, do a diskwipe with something like ERASER (free) or other disk-overwriting warez. A good multi-pass overwrite won't stop the NSA from recovering your nudes, but you're otherwise fairly safe from discovery.



DESTROY THE DRIVE means exactly that. Or at least disassemble it, pull the platters, and leave them MUNGed (Mashed Until No Good). A 12-gauge shotgun is a wonderful platter-disposal tool.

No, throwing the drive into a campfire won't do the trick. Data can be recovered from platters that have been through fires, explosions, plane crashes, all sorts of trauma. Now, if I wanted to securely dispose of data, I might take a San-Francisco-to-Sausalito ferryboat ride, and lose the drive overboard about halfway across the Golden Gate. Ker-splash and adios.

Well, doing too much with it assumes one still has control over the computer to do so. Sometimes when they crash, there is no data retrieval without enlisting the help of prying eyes. If this is the case, then destruction of the hard drive is the way to go. If you REALLY want to be safe, you also pull the ram chips and smash them up too. As far as MUNGed up the hard drive platters and such, yes, it does take more than simply removing or burning the platters to remove the data, but again, unless someone REALLY wants to go to the trouble of recovery, it is well beyond the ability of the average geek to do.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

It's easy to get uber worried about data destruction. http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser/ is a good, open source and free data wiping program that can shred individual files or wipe empty space after other deletion methods have been used. Depending on the algorithm used, it's very safe.

In general, I believe destroying a disc puts the data out of reach for 99.98% of the population. If you're under the scrutiny of the NSA, then you should assume they have already cracked your computer and know what you have on it.

If it's a broken computer that won't boot-up, the hard drive can be removed and put inside an external hard drive enclosure so you can still read the disc. Newegg Hard Drive Enclosures.

If it's a disc failure, you're mostly screwed with getting the information off the disc, though I've had some luck using an external drive enclosure.

As for destroying the RAM sticks? I think that's overkill.

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

Thank you all for your advice.

 

[RunningJib]

GMail

Okay. Thank you both for your advice. I will have to keep my father from giving it to anyone, even if it means hanging onto it broken for all eternity. My brother could fix it and I could sit by and watch him do it. (He isn't the nosey type.)

Get yourself a gmail account and store your 'personal' photos on google drive

 

[NippleMuncher]

Get yourself a gmail account and store your 'personal' photos on google drive

Oh, like THAT is safe. Storing things on servers outside of your control are NOT safe havens.

 

[WishItsTrue_TG]

Geeze, you've got your pick of solutions. I'd go with loading them on a zip, and a simple delete. The IT is going be sitting at a desk with dozens of other jobs to do after he finished with you computer. He's only going to be concerned with doing what's written on your work-order, and as soon as that's completed, he'll move on to the next job.
Your pictures aren't safe if your computer is going to the NSI, but I'd bet the IT won't even glance at the names of your folders. Zip 'en, delete 'em, reload 'em.

 

[NightL]

I'd go with loading them on a zip

http://www.internet-guide.co.uk/zipdisk250mb.jpg

I know that is not what you meant - but gave me instant flash backs

 

[WishItsTrue_TG]

You got me, NightL. Would, Stick 'en on a thumb drive pass muster?

 

[amofiga]

You got me, NightL. Would, Stick 'en on a thumb drive pass muster?

It's very easy to put your pics on a thumbdrive or memory card or if there are too many of them, get one of those external storage memory things that can be a terabyte or maybe even more now days.

The real problem is that even after you delete them (and make sure you also clear your recycle bin which got me in trouble with my wife because I forgot to do that) it is STILL possible for a really experienced "forensic" type IT person to uncover them. However, unless that person has a real hard on for finding them, you probably won't have a problem unless you are REALLY worried about kiddie porn or recognizable pictures of yourself or friends that an unscrupulous person could upload to some internet site for a dirty trick. Frankly, I'd be more worried about that person finding my old tax returns and getting my SSN.

It's probably not a real issue for home computers unless your breaking the law some way. The bigger issue was when people where I worked forgot to clear porn when the IT people took their computers for software upgrades and stuff and found the bad shit. Several people got in trouble with HR but weren't actually fired with "strike one". However, they knew that next time it happened they could be out the door.

 

[Cumference]

If something is private, encrypt it.

Truecrypt is easy to use, and should your computer crash, the files are still encrypted and out of reach of any curious nerd.

Even better: Keep the encrypted files on an external drive.


When it comes to data safety, you should be paranoid.


Codes and locks are alike. Given enough time and the right tools, they can be broken by a "skilled" person.
But if you use a reasonable level of security, the effort it takes to break an entry, should be much larger than the "values" you protect.
In other words, it is not worth the effort to snoop in your files.



.... A keystroke logger is the easiest way to gain access to encrypted files. They are easy to use, meaning that you should be aware of "public" computers and letting others access your computer.


Where I work, it is SOP that the HD is removed from all scrapped computers, they are opened and the plates are physically "erased" with a hammer.

 

[GiggLeGasm]

are these nudes of you..
or just nudes you've collected over the past year?

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

It isn't kiddie pornography.


They are nudes of me.

 

[GiggLeGasm]

It isn't kiddie pornography.


They are nudes of me.

I didn't mean to suggest anything of the sort.
My only thought was that it might be less of an issue if it was a collection of random nudes saved from various pages.

It might be worth purchasing an external drive onto which you can save your entire laptop - in general, it's not a bad idea to have a backup.

good luck.

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

Quote:
I didn't mean to suggest anything of the sort.
My only thought was that it might be less of an issue if it was a collection of random nudes saved from various pages.

It might be worth purchasing an external drive onto which you can save your entire laptop - in general, it's not a bad idea to have a backup

Someone mentioned it earlier. Sorry.

I will work on a backup.

 

[Cumference]

I will work on a backup.

And encryption!
If you want it reasonably safe, encrypt it.

Do not rely on a "windows password" as your only protection.

 

[amofiga]

Seeing the post about the removable hard drives and regulated and documented destruction of hard drives takes me back to my work days within a secured DOD facility. If the OP's pictires are of them nude and if they feel that their release would be truly damaging to their life, than they should never be stored on the main hard drive and only stored on external media. As I mentioned in an earlier post, even "deleting" things from your hard drive doesn't delete it unless it's written over by other data. When we destroyed classified hard drives, not only were than physically destroyed, they were first re-formatted several times with special software that deleted and re-wrote with garbage three times. Hell, our classified areas didn't even have windows because it would be possible to pick up conversations in the room via remote laser "microphones" sensing vibrations from talk on the windows. We did a lot of our work under camoflaged tarps because of satellite "cameras". I used to love that spook shit. LOL!!

 

[GorgeousGeekGirl]

Here's how you handle it to make it totally plausible:

If you really want to keep the nudes, transfer them to another media like a cd or flash drive. Then DELETE!!!

Tell Dad you've heard all these horror stories about identity theft, and since you have all that on your hard drive, you want it completely replaced. Also, a geek friend told you that when a computer is bought from the store, it has a ton of extra stuff from the factory you never use, so this time you want only the stuff you actually use. Your friend said not having all that crap on there will make it work better and make you less vulnerable to adware and junk. Have the unit sent for repair without the hard drive and tell the tech the basics you want.

No AOL, it's a virus.

 

[Muscadine_Eyes]

Seeing the post about the removable hard drives and regulated and documented destruction of hard drives takes me back to my work days within a secured DOD facility. If the OP's pictires are of them nude and if they feel that their release would be truly damaging to their life, than they should never be stored on the main hard drive and only stored on external media. As I mentioned in an earlier post, even "deleting" things from your hard drive doesn't delete it unless it's written over by other data. When we destroyed classified hard drives, not only were than physically destroyed, they were first re-formatted several times with special software that deleted and re-wrote with garbage three times. Hell, our classified areas didn't even have windows because it would be possible to pick up conversations in the room via remote laser "microphones" sensing vibrations from talk on the windows. We did a lot of our work under camoflaged tarps because of satellite "cameras". I used to love that spook shit. LOL!!

Okay. Thank you.