A special feature known as SSD secure erase. The easiest OS-independent way is probably via CMOS setup – modern BIOSes can send secure erase to NVM Express SSDs and possibly SATA SSDs.
It is the only approved method for data destruction for the several banks and government agencies I support. If they trust it, I trust it.
I have checked a couple of times out of curiosity, after a secure erase the drive is as clean as if it had been DBANed. Sometimes things are standards because they work properly.
Most SSD/flash secure erase methods involve the storage having full disk encryption enabled, and simply destroying the encryption key. Without the encryption key the data can’t be deciphered even with the correct password, as the password was only used to encrypt the encryption key itself. This is why you can “factory reset” an iPhone or Android in seconds.
Thanks for this informative answer. Then it would make sense that it took only 1 second, then again, I have a modern Asus motherboard (AM5) with a Western Digital NVMe drive, and that drive isn’t listed as Secure Erase compatible on Asus motherboard. I will download the WD dashboard and do it that way, I didn’t know it existed before I posted this question.
A special feature known as SSD secure erase. The easiest OS-independent way is probably via CMOS setup – modern BIOSes can send secure erase to NVM Express SSDs and possibly SATA SSDs.
Did this already, it took 1 second for a 2TB drive. Would you trust that?
It is the only approved method for data destruction for the several banks and government agencies I support. If they trust it, I trust it.
I have checked a couple of times out of curiosity, after a secure erase the drive is as clean as if it had been DBANed. Sometimes things are standards because they work properly.
Most SSD/flash secure erase methods involve the storage having full disk encryption enabled, and simply destroying the encryption key. Without the encryption key the data can’t be deciphered even with the correct password, as the password was only used to encrypt the encryption key itself. This is why you can “factory reset” an iPhone or Android in seconds.
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Thanks for this informative answer. Then it would make sense that it took only 1 second, then again, I have a modern Asus motherboard (AM5) with a Western Digital NVMe drive, and that drive isn’t listed as Secure Erase compatible on Asus motherboard. I will download the WD dashboard and do it that way, I didn’t know it existed before I posted this question.
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I wouldn’t trust any computer part from those places.
Yes. SSDs are different from HDDs.