Security is a topic that is often neglected, even though it is worthy of attention from both consumers and business users. Most users have a high security consciousness when it comes to fending off malware: they install anti-virus software or a firewall solution, and they configure their wireless router diligently. However, that consciousness ebbs away when it comes to backups, and it is often hardly existent when it comes to physical security against theft; nor is it generally seen with respect to unauthorized access. Decision makers in small business or large enterprises are now being assisted by Seagate's latest offering for security-conscious users: the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 hard drive with a built-in encryption feature.
First of all, I should differentiate between losing data and compromising data. Should a hard drive fail, we're talking about a data loss, which can (hopefully) be dealt with by accessing a backup to restore the most recent save state. The impact to a business should be minimal if data is backed up regularly. However, letting a storage device or an entire system get out of your control means that data might be compromised, because unauthorized users may access, modify or steal your data. The worst case scenario certainly is theft, as you might not be sure whether the data or the hardware was the actual target.
If you think about possible ways of letting data out of your hands, mobile applications are certainly one of the biggest threats. As long as people work on desktop PCs located inside their companies, data is either stored on central locations such as file servers, or it can be found on a local hard drive. Local security mechanisms and the IT infrastructure help to provide maximum data security on both the software and user side if laid out properly. As a consequence, data can only be compromised if there is a security leak somewhere in the IT infrastructure, or if someone physically breaks into a building to steal a system, a storage device or to copy the data onto some other storage medium.
The easiest way of losing important data is when you park your notebook bag at the counter to pick up your non-fat café latte at Starbucks. You won't sip it more than once you begin to realize that your most valuable business asset has just disappeared. In fact, it might not even necessarily be theft - sometimes it just happens that a person grabs the wrong bag. But what should you tell your boss? That you traded the new designs for some coffee? Let's face it: these things happen. That's the reason why Seagate offers a 2.5" hard drive product that offers an integrated encryption mechanism. We gave the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 a try.
Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.
