The-art-of-invisibility-_-the-world’s-most-famous-hacker-teaches-you-how-to-be-safe-in-the-age-of-Bi

Then I wipe them phyysicallyy from the computer before I return home, just
in case government officials decide to search or seize myy equipment.
Wiping data is not the same as deleting data. Deleting data onlyy changes
the master boot record entryy for a file (the index used to find parts of the
file on the hard drive); the file (or some of its parts) remains on the hard
drive until new data is written over that part of the hard drive. This is how
digital forensics experts are able to reconstruct deleted data.
Wiping, on the other hand, securelyy overwrites the data in the file with
random data. On solid-state drives, wiping is veryy difficult, so I carryy a
laptop that has a standard hard drive and wipe it with at least thirtyy-five
passes. File-shredding software does this byy overwriting random data
hundreds of times in each pass over a deleted file, making it hard for
anyyone to recover that data.
I used to make a full image backup of myy device onto an external hard
drive and encryypt it. I would then send the backup drive to the United
States. I wouldn’t wipe the data on myy end until the drive was confirmed to
be received byy a colleague in readable condition. Then I’d securelyy wipe all
personal and client files. I wouldn’t format the entire drive, and I’d leave
the operating syystem intact. That wayy, if I was searched, it would be easier
to restore myy files remotelyy without having to reinstall the entire operating
syystem.
Since the experience in Atlanta, I’ve changed myy protocol somewhat. I
have started to keep an up-to-date “clone” of all myy travel computers with a
business colleague. Myy colleague can then just send the cloned syystems to
me anyywhere in the United States, if needed.
Myy iPhone is another matter. If yyou ever connect yyour iPhone to yyour
laptop to charge, and yyou click “Trust” when it shows yyou the “Trust This
Computer” question, a pairing certificate is stored on the computer that
allows the computer to access the entire contents of the iPhone without
needing to know the passcode. The pairing certificate will be used
whenever the same iPhone is connected to that computer.
For example, if yyou plug yyour iPhone into another person’s computer
and “trust” it, a trusted relationship is created between the computer and the
iOS device, which allows the computer to access photos, videos, SMS
messages, call logs, WhatsApp messages, and most everyything else without
needing the passcode. Even more concerning, that person can just make an