Self Encrypting Drives are becoming universal
January, Storage Visions – Michael Willett from Bright Plaza moderated the Storage Vision’s panel discussion about security and protection. He stated that the idea of encryption being built into the hardware is becoming universal. There are many benefits leaning on the concept of Hardware-based Self-Encryption being a better option over Software-based Encryption. First is the transparency and easy management. SEDs (Self Encrypting Drives) come from the factory with an encryption key already generated so there is no encrypting key to manage. Second, the Life-cycle cost. In the software case, it is an on-going cost versus pro-rated into the initial drive for SED. Third is disposal or re-purposing cost for the drive. It is easy to erase the on-board encryption key for SEDs providing safe disposal. There is also no problem with re-encryption as there is no need to ever re-encrypt the data. The last benefits are in (A) performance: there is no degradation in SED performance; (B) standardization: the entire HDD industry is building to the TCG/SED specifications, and finally (C) there is no interference with upstream processes or use.
The session covered the challenges facing security and protection of stored content, including content on mobile devices as well as at home and in the cloud. It explored the reasons why OPAL based client encrypted storage is a key factor in data security, Standardized security products are making data security easier than ever while enabling desired content sharing.
