Comparing Secure NAND Erase Methods

With modern data traffic and storage, security is increasingly appearing as a design requirement for computerized devices. Keeping track of the users secure data is the responsibility of the embedded RTOS and file system, and this includes utilizing the proper methods to remove that data from the device.

Unlike the days of rotating media, securely erasing data from flash media requires additional steps and the knowledge of the device firmware or flash translation layer. In this paper, we describe the fundamentals of flash data storage and the various secure operations available for the most popular type of managed NAND flash, eMMC.