Digital forensics software provider ForensicSoft released on March 30 a software-based write-blocker, called SAFE Block, to acquire and analyze disks and removable media attached to a computer running Windows 8. SAFE Block prevents write operations on a local disk to forensically acquire it and image or copy the data for e-discovery or investigations.

SAFE Block directly installs onto Windows 8 operating systems, replacing hardware write-blockers. Other SAFE Block versions operate on Windows 7, Vista and XP. SAFE Block software can block write operations on several hard-disk drive types, including IDE drives (PATA, SATA, & eSATA), SCSI, USB, IEEE1394 (FireWire), Fibre Channel and SAS; and flash memory drives, including solid-state disks or SSD, and memory card formats, such as CF, SD, MS, MMC and XD. It will work on mobile device.

ForensicSoft's software write-blocker protects data on SSDs attached to Windows 8 computers, which natively supports TRIM, UNMAP, and Sanitize technologies that automatically queue blocks marked for deletion to be cleared by a garbage collector. The company's product release also boasts that SAFE Block operates faster than hardware-based write-blockers.