FWIW, this ain't necessarily so...The server location in Frankfurt was taken over on a surprise attack so no time for any errassing.
Hard disk drives can be "****y-trapped" to erase in less than a second (I'm guessin' SSDs wouldn't survive it either). However, I suspect this was not in use due to the risk of carelessness. One slip could wipe the entire server(s) without a serious safety factor built in.
It doesn't have to be complicated (nor expensive), and used to be a somewhat common practice among elite hackers/crackers back in the day when the gov pursued what few there were with a vengeance.
At least that's what I've heard...
Carry on.