Via has released a free, open source utility that renders deleted Linux, Win2k, and WinCE files “virtually unrecoverable,” it says. The PadLock Tru-Delete utility is available as binary or source, and is intended to show off the random number generator in newer Via processors.

(Click for larger screenshot of PadLock TrueDelete Utility)

Like the special Xine media player build released several weeks ago by Via, and the Zip Utility released yesterday, Tru-Delete is designed to show off the capabilities of Via hardware, and provide developers with coding examples that can be used in derivative works. The utility will run on x86 processors that do not have the PadLock RNG, but will run 50 percent slower and use more system resources, Via says.

According to Via, the PadLock RNG found in Via/Centaur processors based on the C5XL or C5P Nehemiah cores is the fastest known random number generator. It uses asynchronous multi-byte generation to produce random bits at the rate of 800,000 to 1,600,000 bits per second. The random bits accumulate into hardware buffers “with no impact on program execution,” Via says, and can be read by software at any time.

Because the PadLock RNG does not rely on CPU cycles to generate random data, data scrubbing utilities such as True-Delete can work with less impact on system performance, Via says.

Via's head of software development Justin Hsu said, “With a large percentage of the theft of proprietary information attributed to stolen notebooks or discarded hard drives, there is growing awareness in the industry of the need to permanently erase sensitive data. By also providing the source code, we are inviting programmers to use VIA PadLock Tru-Delete as a resource to enable support for the VIA PadLock RNG in disk-scrubbing applications.”

The VIA PadLock Tru-Delete utility is available for download from Via Arena.

Via also announced a software development kit yesterday for developers interested in exploiting the special security and random number generation capabilities of newer Via chips.

Via mini-ITX boards with processors that include the PadLock RNG include the EPIA M10000, PD10000, TC10000, MII12000, and the forthcoming EPIA SP.

 
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