Seagate Ships Encrypted 2.5-Inch Drives
In a first-to-market move, Seagate Technology is now shipping its new 2.5-inch notebook PC hard drives with built-in encryption technology. ASI Computer Technologies will be the first laptop manufacturer to incorporate the technology into its hardware.
The need for hard drive encryption is gaining more attention, especially in the corporate environment. Seagate’s research shows that lost or stolen notebook PCs can cost companies millions of dollars in compromised trade secrets and intellectual property, and can threaten consumers with the high cost of identify theft. Yet many laptops remain unprotected.
According to a recent Ponemon Institute study, 35 percent of all computer data breaches involved lost laptops or other digital devices. The institute’s 2005 National Encryption Survey revealed that concerns about system performance, complexity, and cost were the chief reasons organizations said they do not encrypt sensitive or confidential information.
Seagate is betting the demonstrated need for secure corporate laptops will spur momentum for its new Momentus 5400 FDE.2 hard drives.
Government-Grade Security
According to Seagate, the new hard drive features perpendicular recording technology that delivers up to 160 GB of capacity, a fast Serial ATA interface, and hardware-based AES encryption, a government-grade security protocol used to encrypt all hard drive information transparently and automatically, preventing unauthorized access to data on lost or stolen laptops.
In compliance with the growing number of data-privacy laws calling for the protection of consumer information using government-grade encryption, Seagate said the encrypting hard drive also will let organizations repurpose or retire laptops without compromising sensitive information.
John Olstik, an information security analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group, said Seagate’s approach to hard drive encryption is “the most seamless you can buy.” Although other hard drive makers are poised to compete with Seagate’s innovation sometime in the next six to 12 months, Olstik said the company’s leadership role in the…
