Editing Write protection (section)

== Write blocking ==
Write blocking, a subset of write protection, is a technique used in [[computer forensics]] in order to maintain the integrity of data storage devices. By preventing all write operations to the device, e.g. a [[hard drive]], it can be ensured that the device remains unaltered by data recovery methods.

Hardware write blocking was invented by Mark Menz and Steve Bress (US patent 6,813,682 and EU patent EP1,342,145).

Both hardware and [[Read-only access|software write-blocking]] methods are used; however, software blocking is generally not as reliable, due to human error.