The rm command is the normal way to delete files on the Linux operating system. The rm command only removes the operating system's link to the file. You can use special tools to recover the file, sometimes even after it has been written over. The shred, srm and wipe commands can be used to delete the file so that it cannot be recovered. These commands write over the file numerous times before completely deleting the file. Each command uses a different method to write over the data. Employ the wipe command on any magnetic media.