3 ms·

If you happen to find yourself destroying SSDs, try not to make this mistake: https://i.imgur.com/XBbLQEQ.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/XBbLQEQ.jpeg

JadeNB 2y ago
I'm sorry to be an idiot—I can't tell if I'm looking at multiple views of one thing, or one view each of multiple things, or what. Is this just demonstrating that hard drives are commonly enclosed in oversized enclosures, so that it's easy to position the punch in a way that totally misses the actual electronics?
- jsheard 2y ago
  Those aren't hard drives, they're solid state drives in the SATA form factor which was originally designed for hard drives. SSDs are much more compact than HDDs, so the components are usually all bunched up at one side near the connectors and the rest is just air, thus punching a hole in them at random probably won't achieve anything. Punching a hole through the PCB might not destroy the data either depending on where exactly you hit it but it would at least make it difficult to recover.
  - JadeNB 2y ago
    Thank you for a clear and courteous answer to my silly question. (I am so used to not thinking about spinning hard disks that I didn't even notice that I'd used the term to refer to SSDs.)
    - rkagerer 2y ago
      It wasn't a dumb question, pictures could have been clearer.
bee_rider 2y ago
Hah. Kinda wonder what’s on there. Just because somebody didn’t want anybody to see. Probably just boring business records or something though.
rwmj 2y ago
I usually "dissolve" mine in a bucket of non-diet cola. Cheap & easy to source. The acid to damage electronics, and the sugar gums up mechanical parts.
- greenyies 2y ago
  SSD stores your data on flash chips. They are coated and only the connectors are exposed. You are not destroying anything you just make it hard to access
  - rwmj 2y ago
    So I don't believe the NSA are out to get me, if I did I'd want something a bit more thorough. My main "threat model" is someone picks up the drive from the trash and tries to read it. However you're wrong about this. As we know from when capacitors and batteries leak, the acid or alkali in those can get inside chip packaging by being wicked through the leads, which will destroy them thoroughly from the inside as well.
    - buildsjets 2y ago
      If i found an SSD that someone incompetently attempted but failed to destroy, It would DEFINITELY make me much more curious about trying to recover data off of it. The mild phosphoric acid in your cola beverage is nowhere near strong enough to cause corrosion inside of chip packaging, lol. I doubt that it is even enough to remove a significant quantity of the anodic plating on the chip leads to permit the base metal to be attacked.

JadeNB 2y ago

I'm sorry to be an idiot—I can't tell if I'm looking at multiple views of one thing, or one view each of multiple things, or what. Is this just demonstrating that hard drives are commonly enclosed in oversized enclosures, so that it's easy to position the punch in a way that totally misses the actual electronics?

jsheard 2y ago
Those aren't hard drives, they're solid state drives in the SATA form factor which was originally designed for hard drives. SSDs are much more compact than HDDs, so the components are usually all bunched up at one side near the connectors and the rest is just air, thus punching a hole in them at random probably won't achieve anything. Punching a hole through the PCB might not destroy the data either depending on where exactly you hit it but it would at least make it difficult to recover.
- JadeNB 2y ago
  Thank you for a clear and courteous answer to my silly question. (I am so used to not thinking about spinning hard disks that I didn't even notice that I'd used the term to refer to SSDs.)
  - rkagerer 2y ago
    It wasn't a dumb question, pictures could have been clearer.

bee_rider 2y ago

Hah. Kinda wonder what’s on there. Just because somebody didn’t want anybody to see. Probably just boring business records or something though.

rwmj 2y ago

I usually "dissolve" mine in a bucket of non-diet cola. Cheap & easy to source. The acid to damage electronics, and the sugar gums up mechanical parts.

greenyies 2y ago
SSD stores your data on flash chips. They are coated and only the connectors are exposed. You are not destroying anything you just make it hard to access
- rwmj 2y ago
  So I don't believe the NSA are out to get me, if I did I'd want something a bit more thorough. My main "threat model" is someone picks up the drive from the trash and tries to read it. However you're wrong about this. As we know from when capacitors and batteries leak, the acid or alkali in those can get inside chip packaging by being wicked through the leads, which will destroy them thoroughly from the inside as well.
  - buildsjets 2y ago
    If i found an SSD that someone incompetently attempted but failed to destroy, It would DEFINITELY make me much more curious about trying to recover data off of it. The mild phosphoric acid in your cola beverage is nowhere near strong enough to cause corrosion inside of chip packaging, lol. I doubt that it is even enough to remove a significant quantity of the anodic plating on the chip leads to permit the base metal to be attacked.