Self-encrypting discs will lock down your data
Self-encrypting devices instead pack the encryption process into a chip on the disc or drive. Everything on the disc - not just the operating system, but file directories and all of the files themselves - is automatically encrypted and can be accessed using a conventional password only the computer user knows. Anyone trying to access the disc without the password would have to contend with protection that rivals 128-bit or 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard keys, which are virtually unbreakable.
“Hardware is faster than software, more reliable and harder to hack,” says Simson Garfinkel at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
Of course, if the password to a drive protected in this way is lost, the data is essentially locked forever, making it a very unforgiving system for everyday consumers. Still, manufacturers including Samsung, Fujitsu, Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi have all recently announced plans to begin producing self-encrypting media.
» via New Scientist
