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Strong, Total Disk, Real Time Hardware Encryption.
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ToughTech Secure and AES Encryption Key
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Products with AES Encyrption
Several of our popular products now includes government-strength encryption. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the FIPS approved encryption standard, is now mobile and incredibly easy to use. Get guaranteed full-disk hardware based encryption, with no loss of speed.
Data is encrypted in real time, in hardware, completely independant of the operating system. A physical key (dongle) is used to encrypt, decrypt, and grant access. Only those with the correct key may access the contents of an encrypted drive.
Benefits of our key-based hardware approach to encryption
- Independant from the OS
- Hardware encrypted in real time
- No passwords to be guessed
- 100% of the drive is encrypted (including information such as file allocation tables)
- More secure and faster than software methods
- AES 256 is recognized by the government. It's so strong that there are restrictions to what countries we can send this to.
Easy Encryption
Encryption is performed automatically by our real-time encryption engine. Your computer will see the volume available as a normal full-speed drive. If your drive is lost or stolen, however, you can rest assured that without the proper AES Encryption Key, no one will be able to view its contents.
How to use AES Encrption Keys
- Connect the device to your computer via FireWire, USB, or eSATA.
- Insert your AES Encryption Key.
- Power on the unit.
- Wait for the green encryption LED to light up on the bezel of the product (look for a key icon with AES) - this confirms the key is accepted.
- You can now remove the AES Encryption Key. It's not needed again until the power is cycled.
The ability to remove the key after power up helps you keep your physical key safe.
The key is smaller than a standard thumb drive and easily fits on a key chain or lanyard.
AES Encryption Keys
Your encrypted product generally ships with 3 identical keys (some other configurations may be available). These three keys exist so you can
- Keep one with you (for your own use)
- Keep a backup on site in a safe location
- Keep a backup off site in a safe location
These keys will be completely unique to you. There are 2128 or 2256 (depending on encyrption strength) possible ways to encode a key. If one of your keys is compromised, via theft or loss, you should consider replacing your keyset - so that the lost key will never be used by someone else to unlock your data.
How big is 2128?
2128 =
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340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456
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This is how many unique encryption keys can exist for 128 bit encryption.
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How big is 2256?
2256 =
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115,792,089,237,316,195,423,570,985,008,687,907,853,269,984,665,640,564,
039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936
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This is how many unique encryption keys can exist for 256 bit encryption.
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How safe does this make you against an attacker?
A full-on attack to locate your secret key would require an exhaustive search. "Brute force" cypher-cracking software uses code that would cycle through each key. At each and every possible key, it would perform a check to see if data is readable (this check takes time). Even if a computer can check millions of keys per second, 256 bit encryption would take 3.67x10^60 years to check each key. Far beyond our computational abilities.
But what if someone had a billion computers working on it together, each checking a billion keys per second?
One billion is about three times the US population, so each US citizen would need to pitch in three supercomputers to this project (each computer being thousands of times more powerful than we have today). Even then, it would take these computers 3.67x10^49 years to exhaust the keyspace. If you don't like scientific notation, that's 36,720,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.
To put that awfully big number of years into perspective, consider the universe is thought to be only 13,700,000,000 years old.
Does the US government recognize this strength?
Yes - our implementation of 128 bit encryption is FIPS-197 listed (certification number 60). Our implementation of 256 bit encryption has been validated to FIPS 140-2 (certification number 1471).
For your convenience, we offer replacement pre-programmed key sets, which contain unique encryption keys.
AES Encryption Key Programmer
If you wish to create your own keys, you will need the AES Encryption Key Programmer. While we do not retain copies or records of customers' keys, some customers' security protocols may demand that they have tighter control over the key itself. There are also situations where more than 3 keys are needed - for granting access to more than one person, for example. Lastly, we're aware of situations where encryption keys must change on a timed schedule. These customers will be interested in the AES Encryption Key Programmer, which will create or copy their AES Encryption Keys.
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| News |
April 08, 2013
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