Confidential Data Not Safe On Solid State Disks 376
An anonymous reader writes "I always thought that the SSD was a questionable place to store private data. These researchers at UCSD's Non-Volatile Systems Laboratory have torn apart SSDs and have found remnant data even after running several open source and commerical secure erase tools. They've also proposed some changes to SSDs that would make them more secure. Makes you think twice about storing data on SSDs — once you put it on, getting it off isn't so easy."
Re:Nuke it from orbit (Score:4, Interesting)
The most fun I ever had disposing of a HDD was when I worked as a mechanic. One of the POS systems was being replaced and the drive in it was going to be shredded. It was a slow day then, so I bugged our IT guy to let me have a crack at it. With an evil grin, I took it out to a workbench, stuffed it in a vice, and beat the piss out of the casing with a hammer. Once it was suitably mangled I started taking it apart with a prybar and screwdriver (gotta save those magnets!) until all I had left was the stack of platters. I took them to the 10 ton press in the back and squished it into a platter-pizza. Then I went to the corner and took the Oxyacetylene torch to that sum'bitch, entertaining myself by doodling molten penises and happy faces in it.
Best day at work EVAR.