Magnets wipe SSDs like old hard drives
Hard disk drives store data magnetically and can be wiped by degaussing. SSDs use electronic flash memory cells and have no magnetic media. A magnet, even a strong one, cannot erase or damage SSD storage.
What we know
Traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) store data as patterns of magnetization on spinning magnetic platters. A degausser generates a powerful alternating magnetic field that randomizes these magnetization patterns, rendering the data unreadable and permanently destroying the drive's ability to store data. Degaussing is an accepted method for securely destroying HDD data and is used by government agencies and enterprises for certified data destruction.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) operate on entirely different technology. They store data in NAND flash memory, which is a type of non-volatile semiconductor memory. Data is stored as electrical charge states in floating gate transistors, not as magnetic domains. External magnetic fields do not interact with these electrical charge states in any meaningful way. A strong magnet cannot alter, read, or corrupt data stored in flash memory.
Attempting to degauss an SSD would have no effect on the data. Worse, because some SSDs contain small amounts of iron in their casing or connectors, a very powerful magnet might theoretically cause minor physical damage to connectors, but this would not securely erase data stored in the flash chips. The appropriate methods for securely erasing SSD data are: using the drive's built-in Secure Erase command (ATA SE command), encryption followed by key deletion, or physical destruction of the flash chips.
This distinction is practically important for data security and for anyone purchasing degaussing equipment for data disposal: degaussers must not be relied upon for SSD destruction.
Common claims
- Holding a strong magnet near an SSD will erase its contents.False. SSDs use electrical, not magnetic, storage and are not affected by magnets.
- Degaussing is effective for all types of storage media.False. Degaussing works for HDDs and magnetic tapes but not for SSDs or optical media.
- MRI machines or airport security scanners can wipe an SSD.False. Flash memory is unaffected by the magnetic fields from these devices.