Integral announces military strength AES-256 SSDs

While we don’t know what kind of data is so precious and not illegal that you need to store with strong encryption as an average user, but if you require it, you can get it! Integral today announced a new range of SSDs, going by the name of Crypto SSD that features military strong AES-256 encryption.

The drives are developed in the UK and available in capacities from 32GB to 256GB and are  FIPS 197-validated. The  Crypto SSD uses hardware-based full disk encryption (FDE) to offer a higher level of security than software-only encryption. Furthermore, unlike software-only encryption, the disks place no additional overhead on the processor.

The data on the drive, including the operating system, is 256-bit AES encrypted at system shutdown. The security system is BIOS-independent and a user can only access the disk and initiate Windows boot-up by entering the correct 8-16 character alphanumeric password. In the event of a brute force password attack all encrypted data is automatically erased after a pre-set number of failed password attempts. The data and encryption key are destroyed and the Crypto SSD is reset. In addition, once encryption has been set, it is not possible to clone the Crypto drive.

The drives come with an application called SSDLock, here the number of failed password attempts that are allowed can be set at between 6 and 20 and administrators have the option to create both a user password and a master override password. This allows the administrator to unlock the Crypto SSD in the event that the user forgets their password.

Crypto SSD, via the SSDLock program, also gives administrators the flexibility to allocate each disk a unique or company-wide identifier. This simplifies the implementation and management of endpoint security solutions in which only certain computers and devices may be allowed on the network, or where administrators want to limit and control certain users’ access to company data and applications.

Suggested retail prices (ex-VAT) are GBP 128.99 (32GB), GBP 169.99 (64GB), GBP 230.99 (128GB) and GBP 301.99 (256GB). A two-year warranty is standard for all models.

More information can be found in the press release.