Toshiba announces self-encrypting hard drive technology

JAPANESE HARDWARE COMPANY Toshiba has released software that it says can wipe sensitive user data when a system is powered-down or when a self-encrypting hard drive is removed from a system.

Toshiba says the feature can also be used to securely erase user data prior to returning a leased system or decommissioning a system prior to disposal.

The software code, which Toshiba calls Wipe, was written as an enhancement to Toshiba's Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) hard disk drives (HDDs).

Wipe can automatically invalidate an HDD security key when its power supply is turned off, instantly making all data in the drive indecipherable.

Some targets of the technology are copier and printer systems that have been fairly vulnerable security and privacy exposures because they store copies of documents for a long time.

Toshiba claims it can securely invalidate sensitive document image data by automatically erasing the SED HDD's internal encryption key.

This can easily be used prior to system disposal or re-purposing to ensure that private data never leaves the control of the responsible business unit or IT department. µ