In Case Of Police State Emergency

How to Damage Your Laptop in the Quickest Possible Time

"Your laptop, with all its sensitive data and/or ill-gotten gains, is about to be confiscated by the authorities, who are banging on the door. There's no time to reformat it—you've got to destroy it, fast.

This sticker will help you do just that, provided you've a drill by your side. (And which self-respecting cyber criminal wouldn't?)

Meant to be placed directly above your laptop's hard disk, the sticker sports a crosshair with which you can accurately destroy any digital evidence the cops are after.

Randy Sarafan, who created the stickers, advises to “research the build of your laptop and locate the position of your hard drive".

"The hard drive should look like a rectangular box with a centered circle somewhere upon it,” he said.

Stick the sticker’s drill guide slightly off center of the hard drive (see first image below) so that you’ll drill the platters instead of the motor.

In times of emergency “you can drill through the marked spot with a 1/4" drill bit,” Sarafan said. “If you have a minute…you may want to consider drilling an 1/8" pilot hole and follow up with a larger 3/8" hole. If you have a couple of minutes, you may want to drill multiple holes.”

This contingency plan—to prevent retrieving of any data from your hard drive—should only be activated when necessary. Test drills, not advised.

Informative sticker templates can be found here."