Favorite Remote Wipe Tools

[RebeccaHerold]

I'd like to know the favorite remote wipe tools of this community; under two topics:

• Free tools (for remote wipe of laptops, tablets, smartphones, and preferably also desktops)
• Tools for purchase (for remote wipe of laptops, tablets, smartphones, and preferably also desktops)

For each of your favorites in these categories, please briefly state why you like it most. E.g. irreversibly wipes the data most effectively; easier to install; easier to use; etc.

Thank you.

[mgoblue93]

Since you mentioned "remote"... ssh to other device and then run dd.  Simplest way in the world to do it.  

[skiffy]

Can you use dd to wipe a drive, on which dd is running? Can dd perform actions on a mounted disk? 

[mgoblue93]

I have.  It's not like Windows where you cannot format c:\. 

*nix doesn't protect users from themselves once you're root.  So you can run on a booted system, any partition, and then when you reboot afterwards, your system after POST should throw something akin to operating system not found.

You can script something like (not exact code... just illustrating an example):

for n in `seq 6` do dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda

done 

for the first 6 passes and then finish it off with random data at the end:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda

[RebeccaHerold]

Thank you. That would work for an organization with admins & a knowledgeable tech staff.

What I'm also interested in hearing about are tools for the general public, as well as the smallest (1-person) to mid-sized organizations, often using MSPs to host their systems and applications. They need to be able to remotely wipe their own, and their employees', laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc. if they are stolen, lost, an ex-employee absconds with them, etc.

What would be favorite free, and for purchase, remote wipe tools that such folks can consider using?