Methods of sanitizing a flash-based data storage device

Abstract

A data storage device includes one or more non-volatile, blockwise erasable data storage media and a mechanism for sanitizing the media in response to a single external stimulus or in response to a predetermined physical or logical condition. Optionally, only part of the media is sanitized, at a granularity finer than the blocks of the medium. Setting a flag in an auxiliary nonvolatile memory enables an interrupted sanitize to be detected and restarted. Optionally, a “death certificate” verifying the sanitizing is issued. Preferably, the media are configured in a manner that allows atomic operations of the sanitizing to be effected in parallel.

Description

[0001] This is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 449,066 filed Jun. 2, 2003, which is a Continuation-in-part of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 457,021 filed Mar. 25, 2003.FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to nonvolatile storage devices and, more particularly, to methods for sanitizing a flash-based data storage device and to a flash-based data storage device particularly adapted to the implementation of these methods. [0003] For as long as data has been stored digitally, there has been a need to erase classified data, from the medium in which they are stored, in a manner that renders the data unrecoverable. Such an erasure is called “sanitizing” the medium. [0004] The most common nonvolatile data storage devices use magnetic data storage media, in which data bits are stored as magnetized regions of a thin ferromagnetic layer. It is difficult to sanitize such a medium. The usual method of sanitizing such a medium ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

For as long as data has been stored digitally, there has been a need to erase classified data, from the medium in which they are stored, in a manner that renders the data unrecoverable.

It is difficult to sanitize such a medium.

This method requires a long time (minutes to hours) to perform, and cannot be guaranteed to render the old data unrecoverable.

Degaussing devices are cumbersome, power-hungry devices that are external to the system whose data storage medium is to be sanitized.

The only foolproof way to sanitize a magnetic storage medium is to destroy it physically, which obviously renders the medium no longer useable to store new data.

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