Seagate Introduces Encrypted Hard Drives
Seagate, the worlds largest hard drive manufacturer, has developed hard drives equipped with encryption capabilities making it impossible to read or boot an equipped hard drive without authentication. By requireing a password or key before the hard drive even boots, encrypted drives offer a new level of security to help maintain security in business and government settings where lost or stolen employee hardware has cost millions of dollars and credibility.
Seagate Technology LLC, the world's largest hard drive maker, announced Monday the first manufacturer to sell laptop PCs with its new built-in encryption technology. The hard drives, to be available in laptops made by ASI Computer Technologies, will include a chip that makes it impossible for anyone to read data off the disk, or even boot up a PC, without some form of authentication. ASI, which manufacturers laptops under its own brand and builds systems for lesser-known PC makers, is expected to put the new technology in its machines within a few months. Other major PC makers are expected to introduce computers with Seagate's secure hard drives later this year.
