A very unusual press release crossed my desk last week. London-based SecureDrives has introduced a 2.5″ self-encrypting SSD that takes security one very large step further by physically destroying the flash chips within the SSD by remote command.
The flash chips are actually fractured, as is shown in the accompanying photo, which SecureDrives sent me to illustrate. Click the thumbnail to enlarge.
SecureDrives calls its product the SDSRDD which is short for Secure Drive SSD, Remote Data Destruction.
My first concern was that the product used some sort of explosive. The company put me at ease by explaining that the fracture process uses a rapidly propagating shock wave via a patented technology. They said that the fracturing process creates no safety issues at all.
The destruction command is initiated through a GSM receiver internal to the SSD. When destruction is required (i.e. the drive is lost or stolen) the SSD’s rightful owner sends a user-defined message or phrase to the drive from any phone in the world. The drive flips the encryption key and then fractures the NAND flash and security processor. The drive then returns a confirmation message to the phone. The destruction process is executed in milliseconds.
Readers may recall a post that I published two years ago about an external SSD from Runcore that over-writes the data in the SSD via a GSM command. The Runcore product uses over-writing, which can take minutes to perform, rather than a self-encrypted drive which is effectively erased in a few milliseconds. The Runcore product also differes because it does not physically damage the flash, and, as an external drive, it cannot be incorporated into a notebook PC’s housing as can the SecureDrives product.
It seems that secure SSDs are getting increasingly sophisticated over time. I eagerly await hearing about the next imaginative step designers will take to make their SSDs more secure.
