nwipe is a

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...

used to securely erase data. It is maintained by Martijn van Brummelen and is

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

, released under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

2.0 licence. The program is a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

of the program that was previously incorporated in the

DBAN Darik's Boot and Nuke, also known as DBAN , is a free and open-source project hosted on SourceForge. The program is designed to securely erase a hard disk until its data is permanently removed and no longer recoverable, which is achieved by o ...

secure erase disk. nwipe was created to allow to be run outside DBAN, using any host distribution. It utilizes a simple text-based ncurses user interface or can be run directly from the

command line A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

. It is available as an installable package in the repositories of many

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

s, including

Debian Debian () is a free and open-source software, free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kerne ...

and

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical (company), Canonical and a community of contributors under a Meritocracy, meritocratic gover ...

. nwipe was first released as version 0.17 on 20 October 2014.

Erasing methods

nwipe can be set to use a number of different patterns, through the method selection: * Default - DoD Short - The

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

5220.22-M short 3 pass wipe (passes 1, 2 & 7). * Zero Fill - Fills the device with zeros, in a single pass. * RCMP TSSIT OPS-II -

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

Technical Security Standard, OPS-II * DoD 5220.22M - The United States Department of Defense 5220.22-M full 7 pass wipe. *

Gutmann method The Gutmann method is an algorithm for securely erasing the contents of computer hard disk drives, such as files. Devised by Peter Gutmann and Colin Plumb and presented in the paper ''Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory' ...

- Peter Gutmann's method for the Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory. * PRNG Stream - Fills the device with a stream from the PRNG. * Verify only - Only reads the device and checks that it is all zero. * HMG IS5 enhanced - Secure Sanitation of Protectively Marked Information or Sensitive Information It uses two types of pseudo random number generators: *

Mersenne Twister The Mersenne Twister is a general-purpose pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) developed in 1997 by and . Its name derives from the choice of a Mersenne prime as its period length. The Mersenne Twister was created specifically to address most of ...

ISAAC Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

Employment

nwipe has also been incorporated in

rescue toolkit packages, such as the ''All in One - System Rescue Toolkit'', Parted Magic, ' and SystemRescue.

References

External links

*{{Official, https://github.com/martijnvanbrummelen/nwipe/ Data erasure software Software using the GNU General Public License