Data safe for the highest safety standards
“The new generation of external hard drives beats optical data storage by a long way when it comes to protecting sensitive data,” says Manuela Gimbut, Managing Director of DIGITTRADE GmbH. Until now, data could be encrypted using software products, but this often led to problems because it was incompatible with the user’s operating system. And it led to the key used ending up in the computer’s RAM – usually easy for computer hackers to crack. “Using an integrated hardware module, the encryption and decryption is now carried out by the hard drive itself. All data is transferred encrypted to the hard drive in accordance with AES standards using two-step authentication, i.e. the use of the Smartcard and the entry of an 8-digit PIN,” explains company spokesperson Anne Gimbut. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard and is a symmetrical cryptosystem which is seen as safe around the world and is even approved in the USA for the most confidential state documents. “Our encryption is comparable with a safe door. The key to the safe is useless if its owner doesn’t know the code. Sensitive data is thus protected from access by unauthorised persons on several levels. The AES key is on the Smartcard and cannot be found on the casing or the hard drive if it is lost or stolen.” If any attempts at manipulation are made, the Smartcard is automatically and irretrievably destroyed and made unusable. But what happens if the owner himself loses the “key”? “There are always two Smartcards in case of emergencies – one can be kept safe and used as a second key to retrieve the data from the hard drive.”
The intelligent mobile “High Security” hard drive can be connected via USB or FireWire and is small and manageable enough to fit into any handbag – stylishly packed in a hard case. But those DIGITTRADE gadgeteers have thought of something else just in case anything happens. All external hard drives in the “High Security” range are protected with a G-Force freefall sensor. “It recognises when the hard drive is in freefall. Within 0.3 seconds, the read and write heads are then pulled from the data disc into the park position and the power is switched off,” explains Anne Gimbut, who carries her mobile “High Security” with her wherever she goes.
Since the company was founded in 2005, DIGITTRADE has been working on the development and production of modern electronic items. The fundamental idea is to produce computer and home entertainment products which meet the wants and needs of customers in Germany and across Europe.
In this, DIGITTRADE provides all customers and operating systems with easy-to-use solutions. The staff are flexible in programming software updates every day, and are constantly testing and optimising the range. “Of course, further large projects are planned for the future in terms of the development of secure storage media “, says Anne Gimbut. “We see great potential in our location in Saxony-Anhalt.“
Author: Dagmar Perschke
Contact
DIGITTRADE GmbH
Ernst-Thälmann-Straße 39
D-06179 Teutschenthal