News Story by Paul Kallender
JUNE 21, 2005 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - TOKYO --
Seagate Technology LLC will start shipping
next year a security technology for some of
its hard disk drives that will make it more
difficult for notebook PC thieves to read stolen
data. the company said today.
The technology, called hardware-based, full-disk encryption (FDE), automatically
encrypts all the data written to the drive, according to Mark Pastor, strategic
marketing senior director at Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Seagate.
"Before data gets placed on the media, it goes through the encryption. ... If
you steal the drive and are a lab that specializes in retrieving data on the
media, it doesn't matter. When you get the data off, it's gibberish," he said.
The encryption is Triple DES (Data Encryption Standard), a widely used standard,
he said.
The company is initially offering the FDE technology as an option on its upcoming
range of 2.5-in. Momentus 5400-series drives. These drives will start shipping
in the first half of next year and are designed for notebook PCs, Pastor said.
"Notebook PCs have two key attributes: They are used by a lot of business travelers,
and they are easily lost or stolen. Protecting notebooks is our first priority," he
said.
The technology will be available for notebook PC makers on 40GB, 80GB and 120GB
versions of the Momentus 5400-series drives, which will have a speed of 5,400
rpm and use the Ultra ATA-100 interface.
The hard disk drives with the encryption technology will have exactly the same
performance as the drives in the series that don't use the technology. But the
drives with the security feature will be more expensive, Pastor said. Pricing
for the drives wasn't available.
Seagate estimates that about 10% of the Momentus 5400 series could be shipped
with the security technology. If the feature catches on, the company will extend
the option to a broader range of disks, he said.
In addition to offering the FDE technology, Seagate will offer software tools
to enable customers to add their own security features to work with Seagate's
technology. For example, users will be able to add biometric systems such as
fingerprint scanners, Pastor said.
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