/ata-secure-erase

A bash script to securely erase ATA disks, runs the SECURITY ERASE UNIT command using hdparm. If successful, clears all SSD memory cells (should reset a drive to factory write-performance state.)

Primary LanguageShellOtherNOASSERTION

ata-secure-erase

A bash script to securely erase ATA disks, runs the SECURITY ERASE UNIT command using hdparm.

The script functions along similar lines to hderase.py*

Suited to minimal Linux environments, or for those who object to use of Python on religious grounds.

For sensitive uses (particularly with SSDs), care should be taken to validate the erasure, or first overwrite the drive with a pass of zeroes:

https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/fast11/tech/full_papers/Wei.pdf

Usage

$ sudo ./ata-secure-erase.sh [-f] device
$ sudo ./ata-secure-erase.sh -l 

 -f 	Don't prompt before erasing
 -l 	List disks