Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Catalyst for Tomorrow

Self-Encrypting Drives: Security for Every System
By
Brought to you by What's this

Security always means trade-offs. Locks cost money and take time to install, but few would argue against the wisdom of having locks on our doors for those reasons. Not least of all, implementing a lock means having to carry and look after a key. Some people misplace their keys constantly, but those who develop a consistent process and policy set for handling that key tend not to have issues.

Similarly, drive encryption means having more management. That may be a downside for some, but the upside goes back to that Intel/Ponemon survey. Is it worth $20,000 to carry a key? (And consider that this is an average number. The cost of some laptop losses approached $1 million each.) Most people would agree that encryption makes absolute sense, even for consumers. Management is optional. The security doesn’t have to be used, but for only a few dollars at most, it seems absurd not to at least have the choice to implement that security, especially when there is zero performance penalty.

Windows 8 is the first operating system with native SED awareness, but Microsoft has wisely left its OS and eDrives open to compatibility with third-party security applications. If one doesn’t prefer BitLocker, there are plenty of alternatives. But between BitLocker and drive utilities such as SeaTools, it’s important to realize that military-grade data protection can now be had in every PC essentially for free.

Security keeps getting better and easier. Windows 8 will likely prove to be the catalyst that pushes SEDs into and through their tipping point. If you haven’t given on-drive encryption any consideration before, now is the time to make the change and ensure that your files stay safe forever.