Finally, it’s here – the James Bond of hard drives. The Seagate BlackArmour drive is protected by a brute strength AES security algorithm based on the highest Rijndael cipher keys available (256bit) that 'apparantly' can’t be cracked, ever.
At last, a way to re-start the cold war! And it’s all mine...and yours too. That’s the problem with trying to be a spy in the modern world – everyone with access to their local retailer can get hold of a fancy ants encryption method, the type which was once the sacred domain of Robert Ludlum thrillers.
Seagate joins the Cold War in hard drive protection
The $259 320GB BlackArmor drive(which sounds suspiciously like it was designed for spy battles) is just 16.5mm thick and robust enough to include advanced vibration and shock detection – which is perfect if you’re going to be engaging in some serious spy to spy fist action. And at that size, it’ll also fit nicely in your dapper suit jacket, as you go from spy to international Casanova.
Even better, the drives are protected by a brute strength AES security algorithm based on the highest Rijndael cipher keys available (256bit), which means those pesky foreign governments won’t be able to get their hands on you’re bittorented episodes of Heroes or those drunken photos of you jumping across the photocopier at last years Christmas party.
Better still, the data can be securely wiped on the BlackArmour drives, protecting you're super secrets with super results.
Just how strong is 256bit AES protection?
When we quizzed South Asia Sales and Marketing director Henk Van Den Berg over just how secure the data on the new Seagate drives were, he told us that it simply couldn’t be cracked.
After grilling Mr Van Den Berg with various over-the-top Die Hard plot scenarios, he stood firm in his belief that the data was never going to be decrypted. The drives are also password protected meaning enemy spies won’t have quite the ease of access to your precious documents.
Can it be cracked?
Of course, there are ways to break this NSA endorsed coding system, but you’ll need have some serious mathematical abilities to even get past one round of code breaking (code breaking is best measured in attacks via ‘rounds’).
A succession of tactical side channel attacks using fewer rounds, means that your spy endorsed data may not remain secret forever. Soon or later, some enterprising young web geek is going to find a way to break the neatly formed AES algorithmic structure (although it’s never been done yet at 256bit) and when they do, we can expect the existence of little green men in black suits to be confirmed hence forth. We look forward to welcoming the overlords.
Freeagent Go for Mac
The latest Seagate Freeagent drive also boasts dual Mac and PC compatibility which is an added bonus for Mac users who have often felt that PC users were the real enemy.
