DiskaShur 2 Secure Encrypted Portable Hard Drive

Laptops are data gold mines that criminals love to target. Due to my regular travel schedule, I have always put the majority of my media on external secure drives. I have used just about everything in the book when it comes to encryption and many of those tools are painful to use and often slow. For many years I carried an external Hard-Drive that required a biometric finger swipe to unlock. It was always a pain as I would have to swipe three or four times to get it to unlock. The folks at iStorage contacted me about there new DiskaShur 2 Secure Encrypted Hard Drive and over the past two weeks, I have been using it while on travel.

This is a device that I am honest requires few words to explain how to use it but the details of what it does is simply incredible. The DiskaShur 2 they sent for review was a 500gb drive that unlocked by entering an 8 digit pin and clicking unlock on the drive.  The instructions to change the default pin are clear and concise and foolproof so that you will not brick the device in the process. It works with any operating system that can attach a drive via USB 3.0

But what blew me away was the level they go to encrypt the data on the Hard-Drive and protect the data once it’s copied to the drive.  This thing is like Fort Knox just reading the security precautions they put in place, makes you realize that this product is in a class of its own. Let me try to summarize the features and in all honesty to get the full perspective you need to read their full product page.

• EDGE^TM (Enhanced Dual Generating Encryption) Technology – built-in FIPS PUB 197 validated AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption engine. The data encryption key is randomly generated by a Common Criteria EAL4+ ready Random Number Generator and protected by FIPS validated wrapping algorithms.
• FIPS PUB 197 Validated Encryption Algorithm – Employing AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption, the iStorage diskAshur² seamlessly encrypts all data on the drive in real-time, keeping your data safe even if the hard drive is removed from its enclosure.
• USB 3.1
• Brute Force Hack Defence Mechanism – That destroys all data on the drive after a set number of incorrect password entries.
• Drive Reset Feature – Which employs a useful drive reset feature, which can be implemented with a unique command. This clears all PINs and data and resets the drive to be redeployed.
• Unattended Auto-Lock Feature
• Tamper Proof Design – Any hacker trying to get to the electronics as everything is covered in a tough epoxy.
• Data at rest protection – All data, PINs, and encryption keys are always encrypted while at rest.
• Wear Resistant Epoxy Coated Keypad – Prevents keypad wear in allowing someone to determine keys utilized

So far as performance goes when the drive is unlocked it is fast and there is no slow down in copying information to the drive. But with a single click I can lock the drive down or in the worse case scenario I can enter the self-destruct pin and all data is cleared from the drive and is non-recoverable.

iStorage DiskaShur 2 Hard Drive Prices starting at around $210 dollars you really cannot go wrong. If you do not want to carry an external drive they also have USB sticks that employ the same technology. My goal is to make it hard as possible for a criminal to get to my data. So while my laptop may be the main target in a room robbery. Even if they get my secure hard-drive they are not going to spend the time and resources to get the information as they really put forth some incredible security barriers to do so.  This is the security product that you will find being carried in my computer bag where I can be at ease, knowing that my data is secure.