SanDisk's 1GB WORM SD card stores evidence longer than your prison sentence (video)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted June 23rd 2010 4:34AM
posted June 23rd 2010 4:34AM
SANDISK'S WRITE ONCE READ MANY "WORM" SD CARD STORES IMAGES FOR UP TO 100 YEARS
SanDisk SD WORM Cards Ship In Volume To Japan's Police Force-Ideal
For Capturing and Archiving Forensic Images
SanDisk SD WORM Cards Ship In Volume To Japan's Police Force-Ideal
For Capturing and Archiving Forensic Images
- Tamper-proof image capture and archiving assures the accuracy and legitimacy of forensic evidence
- Stores data files safely for up to 100 years*
- Obsoletes need for film and enhances digital photography for evidence collection and other applications
Milpitas, Calif., June 23, 2010 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today announced that it is shipping in volume its 1 gigabyte (GB)1 SanDisk® SD™ "write once read many" (WORM) cards to Japan's police force. Police in Japan have implemented the SanDisk SD WORM card as the storage media of choice for tamper-proof forensic image archiving.
Using the SanDisk SD WORM card, law enforcement officers can create unalterable, permanent photographic records that serve as resources during investigations or as potential evidence during trials. Officers simply insert the card into an SD WORM-compatible digital camera and begin capturing images. Later, they can transfer the images to a computer while maintaining unchangeable originals on the WORM card - ensuring that the justice system has access to evidence of indisputable accuracy.
"Japan's police force is one of the world's largest and most respected law enforcement agencies, and a leading adopter of cutting-edge technologies," said Christopher Moore, director, product marketing, SanDisk. "Working closely with police around the world and our partner camera vendors, we have created a one-step system for tamper-proof data acquisition and archiving. This essential memory solution greatly simplifies the digital evidence handling process while exceeding the government's requirements for data integrity and longevity."
Traditionally, forensic images have been stored on 35mm film, which degrades over time, is slow, inconvenient and increasingly difficult to procure. In Japan, where there is no statute of limitations for certain serious crimes, the ability to retain evidence for many decades is a must. In comparison, digital storage on the SanDisk SD WORM card offers a fast, convenient and readily available alternative.
The SanDisk SD WORM card meets the new archival demands for mobility, long-term preservation, data integrity and ease of use. SanDisk's proprietary SD WORM controller technology instantly protects any files written to the device, preventing the alteration or deletion of stored data. The card stores files safely for up to 100 years*, as shown by accelerated data retention internal testing, and delivers a lower total cost of ownership compared to other archival media.
Ideal for Law Enforcement Agencies Worldwide
Japan's police force is one of the first major agencies to adopt this solution, and other law enforcement organizations around the world are qualifying the product as its features are universally valued for securing digital evidence.
"Tamper-proof storage protects law enforcement officers by guaranteeing the legitimacy of evidence that we collect and deliver to the district attorney," said Jim Shirk, Captain, Twin Cities Police Authority, Larkspur, California. "An unalterable and highly reliable archive eliminates the chance of accidentally deleting a crucial file, and ensures that evidence is accessible over a long period of time. Adopting this type of storage as our standard archiving media is a necessary step in maintaining a modern and effective police force."
Any SD-compatible device can read SD WORM cards, but only hosts with SD WORM-compatible interfaces can write to the card. SanDisk continues to work with leading makers of imaging, audio and video recording devices to implement SD WORM compatibility.
The SanDisk SD WORM card is available worldwide in a 1GB** capacity, with pricing dependent upon the quantity ordered. The cards can be purchased through SanDisk's network of OEM distributors and representatives, or by contacting OEMSales@sandisk.com.
Beyond forensic image archiving, SanDisk expects its SD WORM technology to be widely adopted in crucial applications such as audio recording and long-term retention of legal documents and medical files. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com/sdworm.
Using the SanDisk SD WORM card, law enforcement officers can create unalterable, permanent photographic records that serve as resources during investigations or as potential evidence during trials. Officers simply insert the card into an SD WORM-compatible digital camera and begin capturing images. Later, they can transfer the images to a computer while maintaining unchangeable originals on the WORM card - ensuring that the justice system has access to evidence of indisputable accuracy.
"Japan's police force is one of the world's largest and most respected law enforcement agencies, and a leading adopter of cutting-edge technologies," said Christopher Moore, director, product marketing, SanDisk. "Working closely with police around the world and our partner camera vendors, we have created a one-step system for tamper-proof data acquisition and archiving. This essential memory solution greatly simplifies the digital evidence handling process while exceeding the government's requirements for data integrity and longevity."
Traditionally, forensic images have been stored on 35mm film, which degrades over time, is slow, inconvenient and increasingly difficult to procure. In Japan, where there is no statute of limitations for certain serious crimes, the ability to retain evidence for many decades is a must. In comparison, digital storage on the SanDisk SD WORM card offers a fast, convenient and readily available alternative.
The SanDisk SD WORM card meets the new archival demands for mobility, long-term preservation, data integrity and ease of use. SanDisk's proprietary SD WORM controller technology instantly protects any files written to the device, preventing the alteration or deletion of stored data. The card stores files safely for up to 100 years*, as shown by accelerated data retention internal testing, and delivers a lower total cost of ownership compared to other archival media.
Ideal for Law Enforcement Agencies Worldwide
Japan's police force is one of the first major agencies to adopt this solution, and other law enforcement organizations around the world are qualifying the product as its features are universally valued for securing digital evidence.
"Tamper-proof storage protects law enforcement officers by guaranteeing the legitimacy of evidence that we collect and deliver to the district attorney," said Jim Shirk, Captain, Twin Cities Police Authority, Larkspur, California. "An unalterable and highly reliable archive eliminates the chance of accidentally deleting a crucial file, and ensures that evidence is accessible over a long period of time. Adopting this type of storage as our standard archiving media is a necessary step in maintaining a modern and effective police force."
Any SD-compatible device can read SD WORM cards, but only hosts with SD WORM-compatible interfaces can write to the card. SanDisk continues to work with leading makers of imaging, audio and video recording devices to implement SD WORM compatibility.
The SanDisk SD WORM card is available worldwide in a 1GB** capacity, with pricing dependent upon the quantity ordered. The cards can be purchased through SanDisk's network of OEM distributors and representatives, or by contacting OEMSales@sandisk.com.
Beyond forensic image archiving, SanDisk expects its SD WORM technology to be widely adopted in crucial applications such as audio recording and long-term retention of legal documents and medical files. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com/sdworm.
Conjugal visit sex one more time
It's a good thing SD cards melt when set on fire.
@bleuiko
ok who wants to hack this and humiliate yet another company claiming unrewritable or unhackable
Are the EMP resistant?
How about Microwave ovens?
HERF guns?
@Shatter "Custom kitchen deliverieeeees"
@Shatter is it a good idea to microwave these?
@Shatter or just discharge an HV capacitor through it's contacts. This thing is far from invincible, i'm pretty sure the point is that there's no way (or so they think) to tamper with or remove individual files without physically destroying the device.
@Shatter
Will it blend?
@BergerFan Made me lol.
@BergerFan We got to move these... refrigerators, We got to move these color-TVeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees
@Shatter
There's no tamper proof, just tamper resistant...
Throw enough bucks at it and it can be brogen. Simplest way to do it would be to replace it with completely new card.
@Tentcityanthem
will it burn?
Quite stupid name...
@chabba Thats what the tech is known as though. Write Once Read Many. I know what you mean though, I think VDU is a dumbass term for a monitor ;)
someone will figure out for sure how to edit the data on these things
And if you're already able to get to the card, and try to delete it, why not just smash the card and set it in fire?
@wardjj
But then how would you frame someone else?
@wardjj
You can't avoid the destruction of the card of course. You have to think the other way around. What if the bad guy can't get to the evidence and says it is a fake. Nowadays you can't really rely on digital photos or digital video as evidence anymore because it can be faked so easily. And some bad guy's lawyers can totally argument this way to dismiss evidence. This memory card may be a solution to that problem in criminology.
@SeeKo
It isn't.
How can you tell if the card is the original, or just a copy with tampered evidence?
@newone
One hopes that the card manufacturer would write in a serial number when it's made.. or maybe use unique differences in the chips as the identifier.. this can then used to ID the card and make sure it's the original..
I'm sure the will-it-blend guys can "tamper" with that data.
Great. Now all the cops have to do to frame you is put their photoshop work on one of these. "See it's on this special card! No way it could have been faked!"
@franktinsley that would modify the exif data on the photo, it would just prove that you altered it.
So it cant do anything to me cuz i dun live n Japan
Of course these can be conveniently lost. /golfclap
Of course, some hacker can place a trojan horse or virus into the SD card, and they'll can compromise law enforcement agencies computers in one fell swoop: no anti-virus will be able to save the other files on the card!
Next step we bring the Romulan Empire into the war vs. The Dominion.
who wants to tamper with it when you can just replace it?
That is nice and all but you could take the photos, alter them and then put them on a worm card.
I think you need to be a cctv/witness audio recorder or police camera to write onto the worm.
Uhm, if 90 nm SLC Flash has a data-retention of 10 years, how in the world did they get it up to 100 years? It seems like quite a feat to make Flash non-leaky enough to retain enough charge in its cells for 50 years, let alone 100...
This sounds like magic, if not blatantly misleading PR.
Just wait until someone finds out a way to hack it...
All they would have to do is zombify the labs computers and once the card is inserted they would fry/delete or whatever the evidence is...
I don't know. It's just too much of a "perfect" thing to be true...
100 years sounds like a lot.
Wow, I haven't heard WORM since the days of Bernoulli drives (which weren't WORM, but that's how long ago it was).
@ds0: CD-R and DVD+/-R are considered WORM, though.
How easy is it to break?
@MayaPosch
I suspect it is not using flash RAM technology. Note that a SD-Worm compatible device is required to write to the card, although any SD device can read it. That may be due to a higher required write current, and the memory cells may be more akin to fusible links.
It may have more in common with old PROMs or UV-erasable EPROMs, both of which existed well before flash RAM.