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PeaZip
is a free cross-platform file manager and archiver utility that
provides an unified
portable GUI for many Open Source technologies like 7-Zip, FreeArc,
PAQ, UPX... free alternative to WinRar, WinZip and
similar
proprietary software.
- Create 7Z, ARC, BZ2, GZ, *PAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ, TAR, UPX, WIM, XZ, ZIP
files
- Open and extract ACE, ARJ, CAB, DMG, ISO, LHA,
RAR, UDF, ZIPX files and more, over 200 archive types
supported
Features of PeaZip includes: archives
opener and extractor, batch creation and extraction
of multiple
archives at once, create
sfx archives, split / join files,
strong encryption with two factor authentication, encrypted password
manager, secure deletion file files and erase free disk
space, find
duplicate files, calculate hash and checksum,
export job definition as script.
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Secure file deletion utility, erase data
&
free disk space
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"Secure
delete" function in
context menu and in "File tools" submenu is intended for deleting file
and folders in a secure way, overwriting multiple times disk sectors
where information is stored, function also known as file shredding, or
data erasure.
This is a
permanent and unrecoverable deletion of data, not allowing any
recovery
of erased information from disk - similar to eraser software
like
SDelete or
CCleaner.
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Non-secure deletion, as
usually implemented on most operating systems,
is a plain de-referencing of the file name in the file system
allocation structure, leaving unaffected the data stored on disk until
it is, by chance, overwritten by new data.
This allows information to be recovered by data-recovery softare until
not
overwritten with fresh data, otherwise specialized hardware recovery
tools can be used to scan the surface of the disk (or memory cells) to
detect with a reasonable range of certaininty up to a few previously
stored states in the same memory unit, even is setctors / memory units
were overwritten (a few times) with fresh values. |
PeaZip's secure data delete
utility accepts multiple files and/or
directories as
input and provides
multiple overwriting of file data with random data stream (original
data is replaced by an AES256 CTR -generated random stream)
forcing flush to disk each time, then replacement of content with
randomly sized random data to fake file size, and multiple renaming of
the file with random string.
PeaZip file manager / file explorer can find files to be securely
deleted querying the
filesystem with its own custom
functions, based from low level primitives rather than relying on
operating system's high level file browsing API; that (in some
instances) enables the program to show data otherwise not visible - not
simply hidden, but otherwise purposely protected or made not accessible
to system file manager, by the operating system itself or even
malicious software.
At current level of
development however, PeaZip secure deletion utility cannot unlock files
locked by other processes (requires to find and kill the process
locking the file) in order to remove undeletable files - this has be
done separately by dedicated, system-specific utilities.
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Use
secure file
deletion very carefully, since permanently deleted data will reasonably
be
not
recoverable with known - hardware or software - data recovery tools. |
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Please note that secure file deletion doesn’t overcome all known
risks of data leakage, since may exist copies of the data as temporary
files saved by application that accessed the file, or as not securely
deleted older version of the file, or cached by the system: clearing a
file cannot affect that orphaned data,
which can be recovered with suitable software
utilities or specific hardware probes.
Secure delete on flash
based storage
Flash units (as
solid state disks SSD or USB keys) usually re-allocates
sectors for writing
transparently for the software, in order to reduce unit’s wear since
flash units have a shorter lifespan in terms of writes; this doesn’t
allow to efficiently wipe and physically overwrite original content,
reducing
the efficiency of file shredding.
In this case only erasing the whole disk (with one or more random
data passage on all the free space) would be effective to securely
erase remnants of data, but this
can be very time consuming and, for flash based or hybrid drives, it
will lead to
fast wear and reduced lifespan of devices.
Secure delete on cloud
and remote
storage
Data stored on
remote servers (as in cloud services) may be subject to
periodic backup unknowingly to users, so please
consider that copy of the data before erasure may exists on servers,
out of the reach of users, if such services are employed, unless
differently specified in terms of service.
Moreover, as terms of services are often subject to variations, and
limitations in user's rights depending on the laws applying to the
provider of the services (such as, possibly, do any effort in providing
access to user's data under some circumstances), it is highly
recommended encrypting data on user's
end before upload to any external machine, even when encryption (or
user data erasure) is
offered as service by the remote storage / cloud service provider.
"Quick delete" is provided as
an alternative to secure deletion by PeaZip file manager, this action
deletes files
and folders without moving data to the
recycle bin, which is faster and increases security against forgetting
of recycled data.
Like secure deletion, fast deletion does not allows to recover data
from the system's recycle bin, and in this sense it provides a simple
way to permanently erase data, but this procedure is not intended for
securely
sanitizing data: as no data overwriting stage is involved in the
process, it is feasible to recover data destroyed with fast
delete using appropriate undelete utilities.
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Secure delete is
also available for free
space: the free disk space on the specified unit is physically
overwritten multiple time with a random stream as in secure file
deletion tasks - it may take several minutes to wipe large disks -
likewise
software as OS X
Disk Utility to erase free
space, or cipher
/w command in
Windows.
In this way leftover remnants of data previously saved to disk
(deleted files,
reallocated sectors, ...) are wiped and replaced by random data
generated by the disk eraser program, making analysys
of free space useless.
This level of security is not matched by formatting the volume, as
quick format routines does not overwrite existing data, which can be
recovered with specific utilities, and even more through format
utilities does not implement a multi-pass overwriting of free space
with random data, making previous state of the disk recoverable with
suitable hardware scanning equipment.
Zero
delete files and free space is also available, the function
overwrites data with all zeroes before deletion. It is
recommended to be performed before saving disk images either of
physical machines (for backup and disaster recovery) and for virtual
machines'
disk images, as more uniform (zeroed) data is much more easily
compressible - learn more optimizing virtual
machines and disk images backup - but it is not recommended when it
is needed to sercurely erase disk content so it becomes unrecoverable
by specialized data recovery (undelete) software.
Windows system, from Windows 7 onward, zeroes bytes on drives when
performing full format, while quick format simply de-reference the
files without overwriting leftover data traces.
Read more about secure data deletion: data erasure , and data
recovery Wikipedia
entries, disk sanitization software examples: OS X
Disk Utility, and
Microsoft cipher
/w command.
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FAQ
> Security > Secure delete software, how to securely delete
files, folders & free
disk space
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