OS X CLI tricks: Empty Trash Securely

Thanks to one of my local Mac gurus, here's a MacOS security tip.

If you'd like to set secure delete to occur in MacOS 10.5, you can either set it via the GUI (
Finder --> Preferences --> Advanced --> Empty Trash Securely), or you can set it via the CLI.

To set it via the CLI, you can use the defaults command.

First, check your current setting:

defaults read com.apple.finder EmptyTrashSecurely

Next, set the setting using defaults write:

defaults write com.apple.finder EmptyTrashSecurely 1

You can log out, then log back in, and your settings will carry over.