Why should the free space on a hard disk be wiped?
When any sort of file is create in the system, a
certain hard drive space is assigned to that file. That memory space is unique
to that particular file. When the file is deleted, it would be transferred to
Trash. When the Trash is emptied, we get rid of the file effectively.
The hard drive space that was once assigned to the
deleted file remains in existence. As long as this still exists, it can be
virtually recovered by skilled technicians or hackers. This is one of the
principles of data recovery software. If that information is sent to Trash to
be effectively removed forever, wipe free space software should be used.
CCleaner is able currently to do 3 types of wiping:
Zero Out, 7-pass erase and 35-pass erase. Any of those methods will generally
make impossible recovery using commercial grade software recovery. The number
of erasing passes it is relevant just for very sensitive data that could be
hardware recovered by specialized laboratories in an controlled environment
using direct plate reading even from defective hard drivers. But in this case
it is better to use dedicated erasing software that include DoD and other
sophisticated algorithms.
From http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner one can
download CCleaner for Mac.
It can be installed like any usual application, with
a simple drag to application folder.
In the tools tab Erase Free Space button is found, as seen
in this screenshot.
Choose the hard drive volume of which you want
to wipe the free space. After pressing the Erase Free Space button. Depends on
the size of the disk, could run for few minutes or for hours.
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