Paragraph Number

13

In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a secure erase module that overwrites existing data with characters such that the existing data is non-recoverable. The existing data includes data of a data segment previously stored on the storage device identified with the same data segment identifier as the data segment identified in the storage request. In a further embodiment, the secure erase module further includes an erase confirmation module that transmits a message indicating that the existing data has been overwritten. The erase confirmation message is transmitted in response to the secure erase module overwriting the existing data. In another embodiment, the secure erase module overwrites the existing data during a storage space recovery operation. In another embodiment, the storage request includes a request to overwrite the existing data and the secure erase module overwrites the existing data in response to the request to overwrite the existing data.

Added by DJM 3 2021