HDDerase

HDDerase is a freeware utility that securely erases data on hard drives using the security erase unit command built into the firmware of ATA and SATA drives manufactured after 2001.^[1] HDDerase was developed by the Center for Magnetic Recording Research at the University of California San Diego. It differs from other file deletion programs such as Darik's Boot and Nuke which attempt to erase data using block writes, and therefore cannot access certain portions of the hard drive. The internal firmware secure erase command can access data that is no longer accessible through software, such as bad blocks.^[2]

HDDerase is recommended as a disk drive purging method in NIST Special Publication 800-88.^[3]

See also

• Data erasure
• Data remanence
• Undeletion

References

1. ^ http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive-update/148
2. ^ Tutorial on Disk Drive Data Sanitization Gordon Hughes, UCSD Center for Magnetic Recording Research, Tom Coughlin, Coughlin Associates
3. ^ "Special Publication 800-88: Guidelines for Media Sanitization" (PDF). NIST. September 2006. http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-09.  (542 KB)

• RCMP Lead Agency Publication B2-001, Technical Security Branch, IT Security Bulletin

External links

• Secure Erase