Self-encryptingDrive

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  • Toshiba's Wipe HDDs render data useless when you get online in a strange place

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    04.13.2011

    Self-encrypting drives are hardly new, but that doesn't mean researchers aren't still looking for ways to give those IT folks behind the curtain more ways to lock down sensitive intel. Toshiba just launched a line of self-encrypting HDDs that will "invalidate" the data -- essentially, rendering it useless -- when the laptop connects to an unknown host. IT departments can also use Toshiba's so-called Wipe Technology to scrub a machine before tossing it, or encrypt the drives every time someone powers down. The company won't be peddling these directly to consumers, of course, and in fact, Tosh is planning on shopping them around not just for laptops, but multifunction printers and point-of-sale systems, too. They'll come in five sizes, ranging from 160GB to 640GB, and will all run at 7,200RPM. And Tosh says it'll work with OEMs to help them customize the conditions that will trigger a data lockup. It's too soon to say what laptops will pack this technology, though the company is clearly moving quickly -- it'll start showing off samples this month and will ramp up mass production by late June.

  • Toshiba Wipe deletes your encrypted data so you don't have to

    by 
    Joseph L. Flatley
    Joseph L. Flatley
    08.10.2010

    Toshiba announced a new self-encrypting disk technology today, which is sure to be welcome news to the those of you who work with sensitive data, wish to keep your extensive True Blood fanfiction collection under wraps, or are just plain paranoid. The imaginatively named Wipe ships with the company's TCG-spec'd Self-Encrypting Drive models, allowing sysadmins to securely erase user data when a machine powers down, when an encrypted HDD is removed from the system, or when a leased machine is returned to its owner. And this ain't just for PCs -- the system is also designed to work with your copier and / or printer system. Interested? Of course you are! Check out the PR after the break -- it's primo stuff.