This may be my paranoia talking, but is there a way short of an examination with a scanning electron microscope to ensure that the erase command is actually doing what it&#x27;s supposed to do?<p>Not so much that the drive manufacturers are engaging in malfeasance (though that&#x27;s certainly not off the table), but that it&#x27;s not unheard of for certain agencies in certain governments to crock low level system components (intercepting them in shipping and so forth) so they work against the user.<p>..or just plain ignorance. A study indicates that back in 2011, half of the major drive vendors weren&#x27;t doing the erase correctly. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.usenix.org&#x2F;legacy&#x2F;events&#x2F;fast11&#x2F;tech&#x2F;full_papers&#x2F;Wei.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.usenix.org&#x2F;legacy&#x2F;events&#x2F;fast11&#x2F;tech&#x2F;full_papers...</a>