Re: [External] Re: [SECURITY] Fully Erase Hard and Flash Drives

[John McCabe <john.mccabe01 () MANHATTAN EDU>]

If you have a behaving SSD, this will appear to be a simple problem. SSD
manufacturers though are not to be trusted.

There was the self-encrypting SSD fiasco from about a year ago, where SSD
drives claiming to have onboard AES encryption in some cases did not.
Reference:
https://cacm.acm.org/news/232668-flaws-in-self-encrypting-ssds-let-attackers-bypass-disk-encryption/fulltext

Microsoft recently updated BitLocker such that for new drives, only
software encryption will be used. Reference:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4516071/windows-10-update-kb4516071

I have yet to see anyone report that Secure Erase is implemented poorly
from any SSD manufacturer but that doesn't give me confidence that these
manufacturers are or will continue to implement Secure Erase correctly.





On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 11:26 AM Robert Freeman-Day <rmday () iu edu> wrote:

> I am new to the list, so I don't know if this was ever mentioned. There
> is an SSD secure erase option that does not require physical destruction.
>
> https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Robert
>
> On 9/30/19 10:24 AM, Brad Judy wrote:
> > This message was sent from a non-IU address. Please exercise caution
> when clicking links or opening attachments from external sources.
> > -------
> >
> > While it goes deep into the high security/paranoia realm, single punch
> destruction isn’t the standard when it comes to solid state devices. Full
> physical destruction of an SSD using a press should be a “bed of nails”
> approach to ensure that all of the chips are broken. Of course, you’re
> talking about a pretty high security environment if you’re worried about
> people pulling data off of individual chips, but those in high value
> research might consider it.
> > Brad Judy
> >
> > Information Security Officer
> > Office of Information Security
> > University of Colorado
> > 1800 Grant Street, Suite 300
> > Denver, CO  80203
> > Office: (303) 860-4293
> > Fax: (303) 860-4302
> > www.cu.edu<http://www.cu.edu/>
> >
> > [cu-logo_fl]
> >
> >
> > From: EDUCAUSE Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> on behalf of
> Michael Hart <mhart20 () MSUDENVER EDU>
> > Reply-To: EDUCAUSE Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>
> > Date: Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 10:33 AM
> > To: EDUCAUSE Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>
> > Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Fully Erase Hard and Flash Drives
> >
> > We have an arbor press with a punch.  See attached results:
> >
> >
> >
> > From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> On Behalf Of Rob Milman
> > Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 10:30 AM
> > To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> > Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Fully Erase Hard and Flash Drives
> >
> > Our team uses a 5-ton press. It’s become a stress relief exercise,
> similar to the Office Space printer smashing scene.
> > [cid:image004.png@01D18F19.9217E950]
> >
> > Rob Milman
> > Associate Director, Information Security
> > Information Technology Services
> >
> > Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
> > EH Crandell Building, GA 214
> > 1301 – 16 Avenue NW, Calgary AB, T2M 0L4
> >
> > (Office) 403.774.5401  (Cell) 403.606.3173
> > rob.milman () sait ca<mailto:rob.milman () sait ca>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>> On
> Behalf Of Todd Watson
> > Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 10:27 AM
> > To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> >
> > Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Fully Erase Hard and Flash Drives
> >
> > Agreed, Kevin.
> >
> > Because of the variations in hardware design, complete deletion of flash
> drives may not be possible based on the factors to which you alluded. We
> shred before discarding.
> > Regards,
> > ---
> > Dr. W. Todd Watson, CISSP
> > Information Security Officer
> > University System of Georgia
> > Cybersecurity
> > 706-583-2400
> > todd () usg edu<mailto:todd () usg edu>
> >
> > From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>> on
> behalf of Kevin Wilcox <wilcoxkm () APPSTATE EDU<mailto:wilcoxkm () APPSTATE EDU
> > >
> > Reply-To: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>>
> > Date: Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 12:10 PM
> > To: "SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>" <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>>
> > Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Fully Erase Hard and Flash Drives
> >
> > On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 at 11:58, White, Ryan <Whitery () bhc edu<mailto:
> Whitery () bhc edu>> wrote:
> > BHC is looking for a program to erase hard drives and flash drives.
> What programs do you recommend to completely wipe USB and Hard Drives?  We
> are currently using an open source program when the need arises but that
> doesn’t erase flash drive and Solid State Drives.  Any input would be
> appreciated!
> > My short answer is, "it depends".
> >
> > My longer answer is, "generally speaking, I'm happy with encrypting a
> drive with BitLocker and then formatting it or using Secure Erase in the
> ATA standard".
> > My long answer is "cue folks talking about wear levelling and how you
> can't trust the drive to *actually* remove that data and what about the
> areas of the drive where data may be stored that you can't overwrite and a
> bonded destruction company is the only acceptable method and ..."
> > That's a big ol' can of worms, I hope you're ready to do some fishin'.
> >
> > kmw
> >
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> --
> ________
>
> Robert Freeman-Day
> Indiana University UITS
> LSERV - System Administrator - Linux
> 2709 E. 10th St.
> Bloomington, IN 47405
>
> Pronoun: He or E/Em - https://pronoun.is/he?or=e
>
> GPG Public Key:
> https://keybase.io/robertfreemanday/pgp_keys.asc
>
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-- 
*John McCabe *

*Senior Information Security Manager & Data Protection OfficerInformation
Technology Services*
[image: Manhattan College Logo/Shield]
Riverdale, NY 10471
Phone: 718-862-6217
john.mccabe01 () manhattan edu
www.manhattan.edu

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