shredder

shredder is a secure file deletion tool

features

• multiple secure deletion standards (NIST 800-88, DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann, VSITR)
• storage-aware operation (HDD, SSD, Flash)
• hardware-based secure erase when available
• multiple verification levels
• cross-platform support (Linux, Windows, macOS)

security standards

• NIST (default): NIST 800-88 compliant, modern approach
• DoD: DoD 5220.22-M standard (3 passes)
• Gutmann: Peter Gutmann's 35-pass method
• VSITR: German VSITR 7-pass standard

installation

from source

# clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/g4titanx/shredder
cd shred

# build and install
cargo build --release     # just build
cargo install --path .    # install to ~/.cargo/bin/shred

running with different installation methods

1. if installed via cargo install:

sudo shred file.txt             # If ~/.cargo/bin is in PATH
sudo ~/.cargo/bin/shred file.txt # Full path

2. running from the repository:

sudo ./target/release/shred file.txt

usage

# basic usage
sudo shred file.txt

# using DoD standard
sudo shred --standard dod file.txt

# enhanced verification
sudo shred --verify enhanced file.txt

# force deletion without confirmation
sudo shred --force file.txt

options

shred [OPTIONS] 

Options:
  -s, --standard            wiping standard to use [default: nist] [possible values: nist, dod, gutmann, vsitr]
  -v, --verify              verification level [default: full] [possible values: none, basic, full, enhanced]
  -f, --force               force operation without confirmation
      --no-root-check       skip root/admin check (use with caution)
  -h, --help                print help
  -V, --version             print version

important notes

the tool requires administrative privileges to ensure complete secure deletion you can run it either:

• Using sudo on Unix systems
• From an administrator prompt on Windows
• With --no-root-check (not recommended, may fail) using sudo with --no-root-check is redundant as the privilege check will pass with sudo

⚠️ Warning: Operations might fail when run without proper privileges

TODO

planned Features

1. directory Support

   • Recursive directory wiping and directory traversal options
   • Configurable file inclusion/exclusion patterns

2. enhanced progress reporting

   • Progress tracking for multiple files
   • ETA calculation
   • Detailed operation statistics