News

Blancco Defeats Solid State Drive Security Risk

SSD erasure solution introduces automated freeze lock removal.

• By Christa Ayer
• 10/15/2013

As the solid state drive (SSD) drops in price and gains popularity over the less resilient and generally slower hard disk drive (HDD), enterprises are realizing that SSDs present a sticky security challenge: data erasure. Blancco, a company specializing in data erasure and computer reuse solutions, has announced a SSD erasure method that addresses this particular challenge.

Unlike their magnetic HDD counterparts, SSDs store data electrically. An SSD flash controller contains advanced software modules that are hidden from the operating system and user, making the erasure of SSDs tricky and unreliable. Blancco's erasure method adds automated freeze lock removal, a feature that opens access to critical firmware-based erasure commands in SSDs.

Removing freeze locks lets IT asset disposal specialists, recyclers, and businesses concerned with data security thoroughly sanitize SSDs for data security and to satisfy regulatory compliance requirements. The solution is automated, so it eliminates the need for inefficient manual intervention, resulting in completely streamlined, dependable data erasure.

Stellar Data Recovery, an independent third-party and leader in data recovery technology, has verified Blancco's new method through low-level and invasive testing. The company concluded there was no trace of data on any of the tested wiped drives.