reported that Igor’s laboratory, (opens in new tab) Samsung has taken data protection to a holistic level. In a communication with one of his consumers, Samsung suggested that the user destroy his Samsung 980 Pro SSD in the name of data security. Additionally, his RMA process involving this customer included a green light to drill or hammer the drive apart.
The story begins with a user on Igor’s Lab forum dealing with a nearly dead and very expensive Samsung 980 Pro 2TB, one of the best SSDs on the market. A diagnostic scan from Samsung Magician revealed that the drive was failing and showing errors all over the NAND flash.
The drive nearly failed, so the customer contacted Samsung support to get a replacement ASAP and showed Samsung the defective drive data from Samsung Magician. Unfortunately, we don’t know all the details of Samsung’s interactions with users. Most of it is confidential, and some interactions are reported to have taken place over the phone.
Nevertheless, to understand Samsung’s next move, it is easy to assume that users were storing highly sensitive data on SSDs. ), thereby giving the user full rights to destroy the drive before sending it to Samsung to complete the RMA process. The official citation goes as far as detailing how to destroy the drive, suggesting that it be broken apart by drilling or hammering it.
For obvious reasons, Samsung needs to retrieve videos or photos from destroyed or punctured drives to determine what condition the drive was left in when it arrived at Samsung’s factory. He also said there is.
This case is very different from the traditional do-it-yourself RMA process when you have a defective or failed drive under warranty. Normally, the drive should be returned to the manufacturer as-is (without destroying it). The inspector will double check the issues you originally reported in your RMA ticket and send you a new drive if necessary.
This is the first time I’ve heard of an RMA process involving destroying the drive or drilling holes of any kind. But it’s good news for users and businesses whose drives are dead but don’t want to hand them over to manufacturers with sensitive data. Deleting a sensitive file within Windows does not physically erase the file on the drive until the NAND has been written another few times.
For Samsung, if the data is sensitive enough, they can destroy the drive to protect the client’s data security at all costs.
