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Self Destructing Solution needed

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Bunnysniper
(@bunnysniper)
Posts: 257
Reputable Member
Topic starter
 

Hello all,

does anybody know a reliable self-destructing solution for harddrives in a RAID bunch?

Customers requirement delete all data on all drives incl. OS within shortest time possible
Data volume 25 TB data on several SSD drives, combined in a RAID 10 array
All files are already encrypted by the OS and the RAID controller is managing the RAID array.
OS is RedHat Enterprise Linux.

Alternative solution destroying the private encryption keys and relying on the drive encryption only. In this case, even a highly professional APT group should not be able to break the encryption within one year.

Possible alternative solution physical self-destruction- does anyone know a reliable solution, perhaps based on thermite to cut through the bunch of SSDs?
In all cases, the destruction should be easy to start.

I know there are some solutions likes those http//www.controlsystemsintegration.com/safeworx.htm here or self-destructing USB devices…but opening the chassis with a screw driver and pressing several buttons on the top of every hard disc is not an option. And the solution must work with SSDs in a RAID array and - as far as i have seen - the already existing solutions do not work in conjunction with SSDs or RAIDs.

Any idea or already made practical experiences? I thought of a script to re-initialize the RAID controller to factory settings, started from the Linux OS via sudo…

best regards,
Robin

 
Posted : 18/11/2016 8:09 pm
jaclaz
(@jaclaz)
Posts: 5133
Illustrious Member
 

As I see it (but of course I may be wrong) solutions *like* thermite or electrically zapping the devices (a tad bit "safer" than thermite) represent a big risk.

They may be triggered accidentally.

Now the issue is - provided that the data has some relevance - to be "safe" from accidental wiping, you need a backup, and once you have a backup, it should also be destroyed at the same time the original is (Catch 22) 😯 .

Also, both the "thermite" or the zapping would need a separate, safe, reliable electrical source, separated from mains, for the thermite even a small UPS would do, of course.

Crazy as it might seems, push-button self-destroying SSD's do exist (or existed)
http//www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/runcore-invincible-ssd-officially-launched-has-self-destructing-and-data-deletion-capabilities/

Though I believe that any SSD can be electrically zapped by applying to it enough voltage/current (you will blow also the PSU, very likely, but that isn't really a problem).

For all that matters, you can have the case over a thick steel plate and under a suspended load and unhook the load in case of need.
I know it sounds a lot like a Wile E. Coyote solution, by ACME wink but if you think at it more as a sort of manual drop hammer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zN2z_eQANU
it starts making some more sense.

jaclaz

 
Posted : 19/11/2016 12:21 am
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