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If you're concerned about your computer's level of security, which would be a good idea, then chances are you take a fair amount of precaution with how you handle your everyday tasks. You likely also run various pieces of software that protect you against malware and other negative pieces of software, and you also no doubt use robust passwords in order to protect your sensitive data as much as possible.
But what about taking things a step further? Data encryption is nothing new, and even certain hard drive vendors have been, or will be, releasing products with built-in data encryption. Interestingly though, I stumbled on a site the other day for the company Addonics, which sells products with similar goals. The plus side though, is that you have fairly robust control over your setup, and their products allow you to encrypt any storage device.
The product in particular that caught my eye was CiperChain, a very small piece of silicon (size is comparable to a compact flash card), which can go anywhere in machine, and act as a proxy between your storage device and your S-ATA port. Once installed, the CiperChain will automatically encrypt all of your data on-the-fly with an AES 256-bit algorithm, and apparently has no noticeable performance drawback. How you are protected isn't with a password, but rather a proprietary key, which must be plugged into the CiperChain before the PC is boot up.
What I like about this device is that it's simple to use, and very configurable. It doesn't matter what your PC setup is like, because the company sells various mounts to allow you to store it anywhere in your PC, whether it be the typical HDD mounting area, or even a slot on the back of your computer. If you are ultra-hardcore about protecting you data, you can even daisy-chain an infinite number of these together which would effectively encrypt the encrypted data. Mind-boggling stuff! Pricing starts at $79, and scales depending on your accessories.
Similar to all other Addonics encryption products, the CipherChain is a pure hardware solution. This means that there is no software to run, no driver to install and no password to remember. There is very little user training required to use the CipherChain. All the user needs to do is to insert the correct Cipher key before powering on the system or the storage device. The CipherChain can be operated under any operating system and this makes the CipherChain an ideal security solution for organization with heterogeneous computing environment and legacy systems.
Source: Addonics' Product Page
But what about taking things a step further? Data encryption is nothing new, and even certain hard drive vendors have been, or will be, releasing products with built-in data encryption. Interestingly though, I stumbled on a site the other day for the company Addonics, which sells products with similar goals. The plus side though, is that you have fairly robust control over your setup, and their products allow you to encrypt any storage device.
The product in particular that caught my eye was CiperChain, a very small piece of silicon (size is comparable to a compact flash card), which can go anywhere in machine, and act as a proxy between your storage device and your S-ATA port. Once installed, the CiperChain will automatically encrypt all of your data on-the-fly with an AES 256-bit algorithm, and apparently has no noticeable performance drawback. How you are protected isn't with a password, but rather a proprietary key, which must be plugged into the CiperChain before the PC is boot up.
What I like about this device is that it's simple to use, and very configurable. It doesn't matter what your PC setup is like, because the company sells various mounts to allow you to store it anywhere in your PC, whether it be the typical HDD mounting area, or even a slot on the back of your computer. If you are ultra-hardcore about protecting you data, you can even daisy-chain an infinite number of these together which would effectively encrypt the encrypted data. Mind-boggling stuff! Pricing starts at $79, and scales depending on your accessories.
Similar to all other Addonics encryption products, the CipherChain is a pure hardware solution. This means that there is no software to run, no driver to install and no password to remember. There is very little user training required to use the CipherChain. All the user needs to do is to insert the correct Cipher key before powering on the system or the storage device. The CipherChain can be operated under any operating system and this makes the CipherChain an ideal security solution for organization with heterogeneous computing environment and legacy systems.
Source: Addonics' Product Page
