#Secure erase pro
(The OWC Aura Pro X is 7% overprovisioned to optimize performance and ensure the FTL has plenty of free blocks to work with.) Collectively, these layers are referred to as the flash translation layer (FTL). Instead, SSDs use a number of mapping layers that hide the physical layout of the flash-based memory, as well as help in managing how flash memory data integrity and lifetime are managed. SSDs, on the other hand, don’t use a linear storage convention, nor are the storage locations directly addressable. The number of times data is written, and the data pattern used for the secure wipe, allows the sanitation process to meet specific security requirements, including those set forth by the DOD or other government agencies. Essentially, you need to erase the volume and partition maps, and then overwrite each data location using a random or specific data pattern. The linear nature of data storage on a spinning drive, along with the ability to access and read, write, and erase data at all active storage locations make the sanitation process pretty easy, though sometimes time-consuming.
#Secure erase how to
In this Rocket Yard article, we’re going to further explore how to securely wipe an SSD.Īs we said above, the process of securely wiping a hard drive is fairly well understood. We originally looked at the changes High Sierra brought to performing a secure wipe. It may be a good idea to review how Disk Utility can be used to erase and protect information in the article: How to Securely Wipe the Data Stored on a Drive in macOS High Sierra. Which brings us to the question: Can you securely erase an SSD without damaging the drive, and make sure that all of the information is no longer recoverable? (Disk Utility’s Security Options for erasing a drive may not be present when used on an SSD.) To make matters worse, at least from a security standpoint, even after overwriting data on an SSD, it’s possible that some of the original information is still present on the drive. SSDs, on the other hand, can be affected poorly by the same techniques used on hard drives: overwriting data locations multiple times with random data or specific data patterns. The process of securely wiping a drive, that is, removing every bit of the data it contains and scrambling its content enough to protect the information stored on the drive from prying eyes, is fairly well understood for old-fashioned spinning hard drives.