In article <20050724001536.GC32500@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Volker Kuhlmann <list0570@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes >> Unlike DRAM and SRAM, Flash etc. has no continual or repetitive >> amplification function. Traces of previous charges may remain, but I >> doubt they would be recoverable, except perhaps by the most drastic >> forensic techniques > >I would expect flash memory content to be easily recoverable when >opening the chip. yes indeed ! there's remnants of charge left on the floating gates of transistors, even after explicit attempts to erase; and they are relatively straightforward to read out have a look at Sergei Skorobogatov's research on this topic (and on data remanence on semiconductors generally) http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/sps32/ -- richard Richard Clayton They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin