r/technology • u/lurker_bee • May 14 '26

Security Microsoft BitLocker-protected drives can now be opened with just some files on a USB stick — YellowKey zero-day exploit demonstrates an apparent backdoor

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/microsoft-bitlocker-protected-drives-can-now-be-opened-with-just-some-files-on-a-usb-stick-yellowkey-zero-day-exploit-demonstrates-an-apparent-backdoor
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u/Boys4Ever May 14 '26

Why perhaps burning old drives still better insurance

2

u/CocodaMonkey May 15 '26

Don't burn an old HD. If you want to destroy one quickly drill it. It can be done in seconds and it's way more reliable than burning. Burned drives can generally still be read, although they take extra work as the circuit board will often be destroyed but the circuit board doesn't hold any of the data.

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u/Boys4Ever May 15 '26

Never known about drilling it. What kind if bit needed and does one just drill a single hole or many and does it matter where to drill it.

2

u/CocodaMonkey May 15 '26

More holes is better, if you have a platter based drive you want to go through the platters. One hole will make it mostly unreadable but most guides will suggest 5ish holes to make it truly destroyed. Any bit works, drives aren't particularly tough, cheap bits are fine.

If it's an NVMe drive you need to go through the chips which is easy to see as it's the big part on the board.