In recent weeks, rumors have surfaced that Windows 11 updates, notably KB5063878 and KB5062660, were leading to failures in SSDs with Phison controllers. Influencers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok quickly attributed the issues of data corruption and missing drives to Microsoft’s updates. Although no company is beyond scrutiny for misleading the public—considering Microsoft’s past issues with updates—both Microsoft and Phison have asserted they couldn’t replicate the problem.
Phison acknowledged the reports on August 18th, suggesting the Windows update might be causing drive failures, and launched an investigation. By August 27th, they declared after conducting over 2,200 test cycles spanning 4,500+ hours, they hadn’t encountered the reported problem. Additionally, they noted that no partners or customers reported their drives were impacted by the alleged issue.
Microsoft also provided an update a few days afterward, stating their investigation found no link between the August 2025 security update and the SSD failures mentioned on social media.
Given the limited scope of these reports, this isn’t very startling. A Twitter user from Japan seems to have been the first to claim the update was ruining SSDs, with some commentators mentioning similar experiences. However, substantial evidence of a widespread issue is lacking, and the problem might be confined to a defective batch of drives. Thus, there’s little cause to believe the August 2025 Windows security update will damage your hard drive, despite what some claims on TikTok suggest.
