File Exterminator

A CLI-based Python tool that allows you to completely wipe a file from disk, possibly rendering file recovery tools and techniques useless. The project is currently under development.

Getting Started

Follow these steps to setup this project on your machine.

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/Kshitij-Jande/file-exterminator.git

2. Navigate to the cloned directory:

cd file-exterminator

3. Run the program (this prints the command usage)

py main.py

Adding Custom Methods (Template)

To make things flexible, you can create and plug-in your own methods to deal with files, without any trouble of registering it manually. Follow these steps.

1. Create a new file under methods directory.
2. Paste in the following template:

# Make sure that the class name is "Method".
class Method:
    def __init__(self):
        # Here, you can specify a name for your method.
        self.name = "Guttman Method"
        # You can write some description to tell what this module does.
        self.description = "Use the Guttman method to securely delete a file."

    # Make sure this function exists.
    def erase_file(self, path_to_file):
        # Write your code to deal with a file (using its path 'path_to_file').
        os.remove(path_to_file)

3. At this point, you are ready with your new method. It will automatically be registered by the program.
4. List all the available methods, you should see it listed:

py main.py list

Wishlist

These are some enhancements and features that I aim to add to this project, in the future. Striked out items indicate that they have been implemented.

• Dynamic/Pluggable Method: Make various overwriting methods register dynamically, allowing anyone to add their own method and plug it in.
• Good error handling: Common errors aren't handled, making it less user-friendly.
• ...

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

If you have a suggestion that would make this better, please fork the repo and create a pull request. You can also simply open an issue with the tag "enhancement". If you like this project, you can give it a star. Thanks.

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Acknowledgements

These are the references and resources I used to craft this project.

• Explanation on the DoD 5220.22-M standard
• Gutmann method