3 ms·

Cool idea, but how do we know that destroyer.io itself is not an elaborate phishing front?

tlack 12y ago
It would be great if you could pay an additional $10 and get a video confirmation of the destruction (they could start with a closeup zoom on the serial number).
- alexnucci 12y ago
  Hi, I'm Alex, founder of Destroyer.io. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 Yes, that's a great idea, and it's the next step. We plan on having a live video feed of our facility. We also want to record how each order is destroyed, and show the drive owner see how we destroyed their drive. The site was just opened up today. As we grow and get feedback, we'll adapt and add more features to our service.
Justsignedup 12y ago
Now that I know where hard drives are getting shipped, I can intercept. Yet another place single point of failure.
- alexnucci 12y ago
  Hi, I'm Alex, founder of Destroyer.io. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 We don't expect this to be a problem. The interceptor would be breaking several laws. Even if you aside that breaking the law is not a problem for them, there are far easier and less expensive ways to access your data. Like accessing it through your internet connection or breaking into your house. Either way, all of your guys' concerns are valid, and I understand your point of view. We'll grow and improve our messaging + service as time goes by, that's for sure. Thanks for sharing your opinion. Cheers!
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    > The interceptor would be breaking several laws. The interceptor is already breaking a whole bunch of laws regardless. I don't think "oh no, intercepting this hard drive would be illegal! I should find another way to steal this person's data and illegally use it for my own personal gain." is going to even be an afterthought to such an entity, let alone a dealbreaker. > Even if you aside that breaking the law is not a problem for them, there are far easier and less expensive ways to access your data. Like accessing it through your internet connection or breaking into your house. Unless your interceptor happens to be a disgruntled UPS employee who managed to score the route delivering the packages to your facility, in which case he/she has managed to land the easiest data theft opportunity ever.
    - alexnucci 12y ago
      I agree, these extreme case scenarios are theoretically possible, though extremely unlikely. Like I mentioned in my answer to your other comment, shipping is the weakest link (or biggest risk) of our company. We'll do our best to figure out ways to make customers comfortable with shipping their drives to us.
JakDrako 12y ago
Yup, you could add "0. Make drive image for NSA" without altering the rest of the process. If you need that amount of security, you should probably destroy your own drives.
- alexnucci 12y ago
  Hi, I'm Alex Nucci, founder of Destroyer.io. Sorry for the late response, I was just tipped about this HN thread. I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 You can check out my answer to pjlegato's question above. I'm guessing it'll answer some of the questions you might have as well. I can tell from this thread that we have to exude more trust. We know we're not for every customer, but we do want to make sure that the ones that are a right fit (small businesses and end consumers) feel comfortable with us. If there's anything specific in our messaging or process that you'd like for us to point out or improve, let me know. Thanks again, cheers!
alexnucci 12y ago
Hi, sorry for the late response. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 I've answered your same questions a couple of times today, here's what I've been saying: Great question. Naturally, most of the inquiries or concerns around this service are going to revolve around trust and security. The obvious and straight forward answer is that we're not. The more complicated one would be that I'd break a large amount of serious laws if we were doing something like that. When testing the service out, some users asked for further assurance. The solution that seemed to be liked the most involved a video feed (or pictures), that showed how we opened the package, removed the drive and destroyed it. That's something that we'd build down the road if I get enough requests or feel that it would move the needle in the right direction. For now, here's what we do: receive the drive, degauss (demagnetize) it, destroy it. The customer is notified when the package arrives and when the drive is destroyed, at which point we send a certificate of destruction. Also, we'm in the process of getting our NAID AAA, eStewards, R2 and ISO 14001 certifications. The machines and processes that we use follow all of their guidelines, it's just a matter of getting approved (and paying the fees). Let me know if you have any other ideas on how we could show/proof that we're trustworthy. Interested in listening to any suggestions.

tlack 12y ago

It would be great if you could pay an additional $10 and get a video confirmation of the destruction (they could start with a closeup zoom on the serial number).

alexnucci 12y ago
Hi, I'm Alex, founder of Destroyer.io. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 Yes, that's a great idea, and it's the next step. We plan on having a live video feed of our facility. We also want to record how each order is destroyed, and show the drive owner see how we destroyed their drive. The site was just opened up today. As we grow and get feedback, we'll adapt and add more features to our service.

Justsignedup 12y ago

Now that I know where hard drives are getting shipped, I can intercept. Yet another place single point of failure.

alexnucci 12y ago
Hi, I'm Alex, founder of Destroyer.io. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 We don't expect this to be a problem. The interceptor would be breaking several laws. Even if you aside that breaking the law is not a problem for them, there are far easier and less expensive ways to access your data. Like accessing it through your internet connection or breaking into your house. Either way, all of your guys' concerns are valid, and I understand your point of view. We'll grow and improve our messaging + service as time goes by, that's for sure. Thanks for sharing your opinion. Cheers!
- yellowapple 12y ago
  > The interceptor would be breaking several laws. The interceptor is already breaking a whole bunch of laws regardless. I don't think "oh no, intercepting this hard drive would be illegal! I should find another way to steal this person's data and illegally use it for my own personal gain." is going to even be an afterthought to such an entity, let alone a dealbreaker. > Even if you aside that breaking the law is not a problem for them, there are far easier and less expensive ways to access your data. Like accessing it through your internet connection or breaking into your house. Unless your interceptor happens to be a disgruntled UPS employee who managed to score the route delivering the packages to your facility, in which case he/she has managed to land the easiest data theft opportunity ever.
  - alexnucci 12y ago
    I agree, these extreme case scenarios are theoretically possible, though extremely unlikely. Like I mentioned in my answer to your other comment, shipping is the weakest link (or biggest risk) of our company. We'll do our best to figure out ways to make customers comfortable with shipping their drives to us.

JakDrako 12y ago

Yup, you could add "0. Make drive image for NSA" without altering the rest of the process. If you need that amount of security, you should probably destroy your own drives.

alexnucci 12y ago
Hi, I'm Alex Nucci, founder of Destroyer.io. Sorry for the late response, I was just tipped about this HN thread. I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 You can check out my answer to pjlegato's question above. I'm guessing it'll answer some of the questions you might have as well. I can tell from this thread that we have to exude more trust. We know we're not for every customer, but we do want to make sure that the ones that are a right fit (small businesses and end consumers) feel comfortable with us. If there's anything specific in our messaging or process that you'd like for us to point out or improve, let me know. Thanks again, cheers!

alexnucci 12y ago

Hi, sorry for the late response. I was just tipped about this HN thread, I had posted one, and had been answering questions, here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8074934 I've answered your same questions a couple of times today, here's what I've been saying: Great question. Naturally, most of the inquiries or concerns around this service are going to revolve around trust and security. The obvious and straight forward answer is that we're not. The more complicated one would be that I'd break a large amount of serious laws if we were doing something like that. When testing the service out, some users asked for further assurance. The solution that seemed to be liked the most involved a video feed (or pictures), that showed how we opened the package, removed the drive and destroyed it. That's something that we'd build down the road if I get enough requests or feel that it would move the needle in the right direction. For now, here's what we do: receive the drive, degauss (demagnetize) it, destroy it. The customer is notified when the package arrives and when the drive is destroyed, at which point we send a certificate of destruction. Also, we'm in the process of getting our NAID AAA, eStewards, R2 and ISO 14001 certifications. The machines and processes that we use follow all of their guidelines, it's just a matter of getting approved (and paying the fees). Let me know if you have any other ideas on how we could show/proof that we're trustworthy. Interested in listening to any suggestions.