SYSTEM wrote:No, it's not "the issue". The article mentions that the problem is that all ways to wipe data from Flash drives (except physical destruction) are unreliable.
Of course, it's also an issue that overwriting data, in addition to not working, reduces the lifetime of the drive.
Certainly. I should have written that better.
Good stuff, thanks.
SYSTEM wrote:If you need to wipe data from a Flash drive, I suggest physical destruction.
I still have a hard time with this. I read the article and I get that wiping doesn't quite work, but where are these multiple storage spaces floating above the original data that hide all this erased material? If I install 3 different operating systems on one of these drives, does it keep all three? Part of some?
SYSTEM wrote:As the InfoWorld article explains, this kind of tools doesn't work with Flash drives.
The bar for success among security researchers is pretty high. Wiping is still good for most people's security needs -- I'd probably go with
zeroing out the drive if concerned about drive life or one of the tools Joby mentioned for something more secure. But yes, for
real security, physical destruction isn't odd. I recall the story of one of the people Phil Zimmerman was working with on PGP posted the initial code to the newsgroups and then took his computer drive out back and shot it.