[MacTUG] Secure Erase of SSDs

[Mike Patterson]

I suppose an acceptable alternative to removing the encryption key is just setting a unique, very long, encryption key, waiting for the encryption to complete, and (perhaps?) then removing the volume in Disk Utility? A virtually unguessable key is the next best thing to a key that's been removed entirely.

Mike

-- 
Mike Patterson - pronouns he/him - Manager, Information Security Operations
Information Security Services, University of Waterloo
+1 519-888-4567, x47178 / mike.patterson at uwaterloo.ca
Security Operations Centre x41125 / soc at uwaterloo.ca

> On Nov 5, 2018, at 2:25 PM, Dani Roloson <daroloso at uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> 
> Colleague has a question about preparing Macs for surplus and is wondering what others do on campus.
> ------------------------------------------------------
>  
> What is the best way to securely erase the SSD in an Apple computer that is going to surplus?
>  
> The Apple web site:  https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208496
> How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support
> support.apple.com
> Use Disk Utility to erase (format) a hard disk, flash drive, or other storage device for Mac.
> 
>  
> says to use Disk Utility – it does not specify that a particular version has to be used.  Article is from September 2018.
>  
> In general, data on SSDs can be rendered unreadable by encrypting the drive and then removing the encryption key, but how to do this in MacOS?
>  
> ---------------------------------------------
> Christine Roth
> MFCF
> MC3068 X36463
>  
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