state drives (SSDs) have become the core equipment for data storage in key fields such as industrial automation, aerospace, and smart grids, thanks to their advantages of high-speed read and write, high stability, and strong earthquake resistance. With the iteration and upgrading of devices and the tightening of data security regulations, how to securely and thoroughly destroy sensitive data in SSDs has become a major challenge for enterprises. Soft destruction and hard destruction, as two mainstream destruction methods, respectively construct data security defenses from the logical and physical levels.

Soft destruction: data "formatting" at the logical level

Soft destruction is the logical clearing or destruction of data in industrial grade SSDs through software algorithms or technical means, making the data unable to be read or restored normally.

Data erasure

This is the most common method of soft destruction, which uses professional data erasure software to perform multiple overwrite writes on SSDs according to specific algorithms. Taking the US Department of Defense's DOD 5220.22-M standard as an example, it requires three overwrite writes to SSDs, using fixed characters, complement characters, and random characters to overwrite the original data, ensuring that the data cannot be restored through conventional recovery methods. The German VSITR standard is even stricter, requiring seven overwrite writes. The advantage of data erasure is that it can preserve SSD hardware, facilitate subsequent reuse or resale, reduce enterprise costs, and the operation is relatively flexible, which can be completed locally or remotely. But the disadvantage is that it takes a long time, especially for high-capacity SSDs, which may take several hours or even days to complete; Meanwhile, if the erasing process is disrupted or there are software vulnerabilities, there may still be a risk of data residue.

Encrypt and destroy

For encrypted industrial grade SSDs, data destruction can be achieved by deleting or resetting the encryption key. When the encryption key is lost or reset, even if someone else obtains the SSD, the information stored in it becomes meaningless due to the inability to decrypt the data. The advantage of this method is its fast destruction speed, which can be completed almost instantly; And there is no need to physically operate the SSD, and there is no damage to the hardware. However, the prerequisite is that the encryption algorithm is sufficiently secure and the key management mechanism is well-established. If the encryption algorithm is cracked or the key is leaked, data security will be threatened.

Hard Destruction: Physical Data 'Smashing'

Hard destruction refers to the physical destruction of industrial grade SSDs, causing their hardware structure to malfunction and data storage media to be completely damaged, making it impossible to recover data.

Crush and destroy

With the help of professional crushing equipment, SSD is crushed into small particles. During the crushing process, key components such as the SSD casing, circuit board, and flash memory chip are completely destroyed, and the data storage structure collapses. Its advantages are thorough destruction and extremely high security, suitable for scenarios with extremely strict data security requirements, such as SSD processing involving state secrets and military core data. But the disadvantages are also obvious. SSDs cannot be reused, resulting in resource waste, and the crushing process may generate dust pollution, requiring corresponding protective and treatment equipment.

Burning and destruction

Burn SSD in a high-temperature environment above 800 ℃ using a high-temperature incinerator. At high temperatures, the plastic casing, circuit board, and other materials of SSDs rapidly burn and carbonize, causing the storage medium in flash memory chips to melt and denature, and the data storage layer to be completely destroyed. This method has high efficiency in handling a large number of SSDs, but it will release harmful gases and pollute the environment. It is necessary to equip a professional exhaust treatment device, and the residue after incineration still needs to be properly treated.

When choosing a destruction method, enterprises need to comprehensively consider data security levels, cost budgets, environmental requirements, and subsequent equipment processing needs to lay a solid foundation for industrial data security.