TL;DR dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX See also [1] for the non-scientific claim backed-by-bounty. > It is unlikely that an individual write will be a digita

TL;DR dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX See also [1] for the non-scientific claim backed-by-bounty. > It is unlikely that an individual write will be a digital +1.00000 (1). Rather - there is a set range, a normative confidence interval that the bit will be in [15]. What this means is that there is generally a 95% likelihood that the +1 will exist in the range of (0.95, 1.05) there is then a 99% likelihood that it will exist in the range (0.90, 1.10) for instance. This leaves a negligible probability (1 bit in every 100,000 billion or so) that the actual potential will be less than 60% of the full +1 value. This error is the non-recoverable error rating for a drive using a single pass wipe It all comes down to -- what is your threat model? Dishonest craigslist scroungers or a well-armed state? The latter just may be able to recover things you'd be astounded of, but if it's easier for them to do it with Van Eck phreaking or a subpoena to the sites you mirror with, they'll just do that. Note that AFAICT this paper does not discuss NAND or phase-change memory or anything else. Today in 2017 the levels of indirection between you and your actual real NAND cell that you erased and programmed six months ago are significant. You might actually want to take a hammer to your SSD. [1] http://www.hostjury.com/blog/view/195/the-great-zero-challenge-remains-unaccepted http://www.hostjury.com/blog/view/195/the-great-zero-challen...