Toshiba announces self-wiping hard drives

JAPANESE COMPUTER AND ELECTRONICS MAKER Toshiba has announced a series of self-encrypting hard drives that can wipe data if security is compromised, which it claims is a world first.

The MK6461GSYG family of hard drives includes five 2.5-inch models ranging in capacity from 150GB to 640GB. They are designed for use with copiers, printers, point-of-sale systems, computers and various other IT devices.

What differentiates these drives from others on the market is self-encryption and wipe technology, which can invalidate all data on the system when the drive is removed, powered down or connected to an unauthorised system. This will prevent data from being lost or stolen, since the drive cannot leave its designated installation without triggering the wipe feature.

Toshiba has been working on its wipe technology since August of last year, developing the automatic invalidation of data when a drive is removed or powered down, but the ability to trigger a data wipe when the drive is connected to a device that has not been given authorisation is the latest development in ensuring that sensitive data is kept secret. This will allow the drive to be moved without wiping data, but restricts access to that data to authorised systems only.

This development makes data invalidation a much speedier process compared to traditional methods, which often take hours of overwriting.

Toshiba plans to add the technology into its self-branded PCs, printers and point-of-sale systems.

Samples of the self-encrypting drives will be available from the end of April, with mass production expected at the end of June. Prices have yet to be revealed. µ