Materialklasse E

Destroying SSDs: the security levels of material class E

DIN 66399 distinguishes material classes by the type of data carrier, for example H for hard drives, O for optical data carriers and E for electronic data carriers. Because flash memory chips are very small, considerably smaller particle sizes apply to class E than to hard drives.

Level	Requirement
E-1	Data carrier is mechanically or electronically inoperable
E-2	Data carrier cut into pieces
E-3	Particles of at most 160 mm²
E-4	Particles of at most 30 mm²
E-5	Particles of at most 10 mm²
E-6	Particles of at most 1 mm²
E-7	Particles of at most 0.5 mm²

Which level is appropriate results from the protection class and protection requirement of the data. An overview of protection classes and security levels is given by the guide DIN 66399: protection classes and security levels. More on the significance of particle size at Particle size.

Erase or destroy?

Functional SSDs can often be securely erased and reused, for example with firmware-based methods or Crypto Erase. Defective or non-erasable data carriers are destroyed. What both routes cost and when each makes sense is described in the guide Hard Drive Destruction: Erase or Destroy? Second IT destroys data carriers such as hard drives, SSDs and USB sticks in-house according to DIN 66399, under video surveillance and with a certificate of destruction. The shredders destroy up to security level H-5 and E-5 – E-5 is the level for electronic data carriers such as SSDs and USB sticks.

Frequently asked questions about material class E

Which data carriers belong to material class E?

Electronic data carriers such as SSDs, USB sticks, memory cards, chip cards and other flash memory.

Which level applies to the destruction of SSDs?

The levels of material class E apply to SSDs. Which level is appropriate depends on the protection requirement of the data. Have the level achieved confirmed in the certificate of destruction.

Does every SSD have to be destroyed?

No. Functional SSDs can be verifiably erased with suitable methods and reused. Mainly defective or non-erasable data carriers are destroyed.

What particle size applies to levels E-4 and E-5?

At E-4, the particles may be at most 30 mm² in size, at E-5 at most 10 mm². Levels E-6 and E-7 require even smaller pieces of at most 1 mm² and 0.5 mm². Which level is appropriate results from the protection class and protection requirement of the data.

Why do smaller particles apply to SSDs than to hard drives?

Flash memory chips are very small, and a single chip holds a lot of data. That is why considerably smaller particle sizes apply to material class E than to hard drives. A piece with an intact chip could otherwise still contain readable data.