THE SSD PROBLEMS
DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE EXTRA SECURITY CONCERNS WHEN IT COMES TO WIPING DEVICES WITH SSDS?
Computer SSDs pose a dilemma for secure erasure, thanks to how they handle ‘wear levelling’. Options such as writing over the data need to be performed multiple times to ensure that nothing is missed, which is slow and decreases drive lifespan. Many SSDs have secure erase commands built in, but in practice, these can leave some original data that can be recovered with forensic techniques. Like with smartphones, the best option is often to fully encrypt the drive, then destroy the key.
WINDOWS
The ‘Remove Everything’ option in Windows 8 and 10 attempts to securely erase the drive by completely overwriting all the data. Performing a full drive encryption rst adds an extra layer of protection, but not all versions of Windows have the option built in — only the Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise Editions, dating back to Vista. For those with lesser versions, the free and open-source VeraCrypt ( www.veracrypt.codeplex.com) is a good encryption alternative. After installation, encrypting a drive can take many hours, but is worth the time and e ort before erasing your les.
Windows 7 and earlier do not have factory reset options, but encrypting the drive, then formatting it and reinstalling Windows will make data extremely hard to recover.
MAC OS X
For those with a reasonably new Apple computer (running OS X Lion or later), chances are it already has full disk encryption enabled — called FileVault 2. It’s an opt-out option during installation or upgrade and, for newer models, doesn’t lower performance. To check FileVault status, or turn it on, navigate to ‘System Preferences > Security & Privacy’ and select FileVault. With the encryption turned on, erasing the drive and reinstalling the OS will be even more secure.
Unlike Windows, OS X also o ers an option to securely erase any free space on your device, without having to perform a full install. This means that any deleted les will be completely overwritten, and be very hard to recover. This option is available in Disk Utility (see the above Mac OS X reset guide) but only for older models with mechanical HDDs.
“Options such as writing over the data need to be performed multiple times to ensure that nothing is missed, which is slow and decreases drive lifespan.”