Missing Link

As I write this, I realize that its usefulness to most of you who read my blog regularly is limited, at best.  For that, I apologize.  If you’re not someone interested in information security (and specifically, the technologies involved therein) you can safely skip this without missing anything you care about reading.

Back in January, PGP Corporation released a much anticipated update to their PGP Desktop lineup -PGP Desktop 10.0.  This update was much anticipated because it finally added support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.  The great benefit here is that those who would be so inclined to utilize whole disk encryption on mac, and choose PGP as their platform of choice, could now upgrade to Snow Leopard and have their drive encrypted.

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I have no great love for Microsoft.   I can admit that some of their products are actually quite good, I generally despise the company itself.  This is no great revelation – anybody who knows me already knew that.  Some of my friends have heard me utter the words “I will never EVER buy an Xbox”.

As my Mom always told me: Never say never.

Last week, Ann and I came upon a $200 gift card to Best Buy.  We collectively decided that the best use of that would be to break down and get a gaming console.   We wanted something fun we could do with friends when they come visit, and another thing to pass time and relax.    Our options were a PS3 or an Xbox.   Both are good systems and I would have enjoyed either one,  but the main draw for the PS3 (the fact that it also plays Bluray) doesn’t really matter all that much since we already have two Bluray players.   The big draw for the Xbox – the fact that I have a handful of friends who have them and play online regularly – ended up being the deciding factor.

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What do you do when you’re finished with a document on your computer and need or want to get rid of it?   For most people the answer is to delete the file.  That is, after all, the most logical thing to do, right?   What a lot of people fail to realize is that simply deleting a file does NOT remove it from your hard drive.  A person skilled in data recovery can easily recover that data unless it has been overwritten several times.  Deleting the file only removes references to the file from the filesystem.  It does not physically remove the data from the drive, however, instead it just allows the computer to overwrite the space where it had been stored.

There are, however, ways you can securely delete files from your computer.  These tools will overwrite the space on the hard drive where the file resided,  usually 7 or more times (and often the number of passes is configurable).  This morning my boss brought to my attention the fact that one such utility is available by default on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).   The command, srm, is used via the command line and will securely remove your files.

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Unlike a lot of bloggers, I’m going to completely ignore the fact that last week was Thanskgiving here in the United States, a fact which seems to compel many to post about something they are thankful for.   That’s not to say I’m not thankful for anything (I am, quite a few things actually), but rather that I just don’t care to share that with you

Thanksgiving, along with the help of two days of PTO (Paid Time Off, for those who don’t know), allowed me to enjoy a nice six-day weekend.  I did thoroughly enjoy the time off as it allowed me to unwind quite a bit and disconnect myself from work.

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I love technology.

While that’s a VERY broad statement (as ‘technology’ encompasses a very large number of things), it’s generally true.  I’ll try to be a little more specific for you, though, as I can admit that saying ‘I love technology’ is like saying ‘I love things made of matter!’.  I love computers, and computerized gadgets – for example:  laptops, smart phones, ipods, networking equipment, computerized AV equipment, etc.

When I was a youngster, my parents brought home a computer made by Texas Instruments.  I was much too young to know (or remember) the model number of this machine – even though I spent inordinate amounts of time in front of it.  I remember it had a TV for a screen, and sported two 5.25″ floppy drives which were used for everything you wanted to run – including the OS.  Playing a game was an exercise in patience – waiting many minutes for the OS to load, then having to load the game.  After all that waiting you got a game with monochrome graphics that were…. lacking.   Except back then they weren’t lacking – they were awesome and I loved them.  From a very young age I was hooked. (continue reading…)