Buffalo ships low-cost drive with native encryption

TechWorld.com - Buffalo Technology (USA) Inc. has become the latest vendor to announce a USB hard drive featuring built-in, hardware-backed encryption. Almost as interesting is that it costs almost the same as the same drive without security.

Launched last year, the MiniStation range was intended to be the company's take on the idea of hauling around a 2.5-in. portable hard drive inside a "rugged" case. Capacities are currently 160GB and 320GB, with a USB 2.0 interface, a wraparound data cable and Memeo Inc.'s backup software-for-one.

The new drive, dubbed "Pro," is identical to this spec in every respect bar one -- accessing the data requires entering a password. No client software is necessary to enable the 128-bit AES encryption because it is built into the drive at hardware level to operate transparently.

The user is unaware that encryption is even being used beyond the password entry requirement. Detach the unit and the data is re-encrypted automatically without, apparently, any noticeable performance penalty.

"The need to securely transport large amounts of confidential company data is continuing to rise, with businesses now requiring more capacity than a USB flash drive can offer," commented Buffalo's Kevin Vine in the official release. "The Pro addresses this need and offers an even more secure option for portable storage."

The new drives are expected to cost around $149.40 for the 160GB version and $267.41 for the 320GB model, including VAT, a modest hike on buying the same drive without the encryption. A standard 160GB MiniStation has a street price of around $116 with VAT, only $33.42 less than the Pro in the same capacity. The MiniStation Pro also comes with mobile versions of Mozilla Firefox and the Thunderbird e-mail program.

Rivals to the drive are still few and far between, though a number of other vendors are expected through 2008. In time, the encryption will become a standard feature, even for low-end drives, as it is slowly becoming in the USB storage segment. The external version of Stonewood's specialist Eclypt drive is considerably more expensive, but adds extra layers of tamper-proofing as well as 256-bit AES encryption and management.