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Re: Security options in Disk Utility

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On 2015-10-12 17:52, Neill Massello wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>
>> I just noticed that in Disk Utility that "Security Options" does not
>> appear if I select "Erase" on an external disk volume (USB 3 spinning mass).
>>
>> But if I select "Erase" on an external flash card, then the Security
>> Options appears again.
>>
>> Is this new?  It seems to me that prior to 10.11 "Security Options" was
>> presented for hard disks as well as USB keys and such.
>
> In 10.10, Disk Utility disables security options for any disk it can
> identify as an SSD. It apparently can't do that if the disk is behind a
> USB or FireWire bridge, so it offers secure erase for it, even if the
> disk is actually an SSD.
>
> It looks like Apple went overboard in closing that loophole. Perhaps
> this will be changed in a later version. IMHO, all that's really needed
> is additional language about SSDs in the warning that's already in the
> dialogs.

Thanks for the clarification.  I was wondering if I'd gone batty.

IAC I have my own erase utility to write over disks empty space so it's 
not the end of the world.

What's sad is that most hard drives have a built in secure erase command 
that is fast (no computer to disk i/o needed).  But the hooks to invoke 
it are not present in most OS' including Unix/OS X and Windows.  You 
typically have to burn a specific to task image, boot off that (might 
not work on a Mac) and then invoke it - making sure you target the 
correct disk - could be risky even if you do get it to run on a Mac.

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Security options in Disk Utility Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2015-10-12 09:37 -0400
  Re: Security options in Disk Utility nmassello@yahoo.com (Neill Massello) - 2015-10-12 15:52 -0600
    Re: Security options in Disk Utility Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2015-10-12 18:11 -0400

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