Encryption Platform Secures SSDs with Mobile Biometrics

Western Digital has released a new data encryption platform that uses a mobile app to help safeguard the information on an SSD. The ArmorLock Security Platform will first be deployed in the G-Technology ArmorLock encrypted NVMe SSD for the entertainment sector, and will eventually appear in other SSDs tailored to the needs of other industries.

ArmorLock is designed to protect sensitive materials from cybercriminals while simultaneously reducing friction for people with legitimate access. In that regard, the ArmorLock app allows people to use their mobile phone to wirelessly unlock a device with an ArmorLock SSD. The app leverages the security features on the user’s mobile phone, which means that people will be able to log into a workstation with a face or fingerprint scan on their own personal device.

Managers, meanwhile, will be able to use the desktop and mobile apps to configure multiple drives and devices to control who has access to what information. With the feature, an organization will be able to ship a critical SSD to an employee knowing that no one will be able to access that drive while it is in transit, and to grant permission to that employee when it arrives.

The ArmorLock NVMe SSD offers 256-bit AES-XTS hardware encryption, and comes with a tracker that lets owners know where the drive is at any given time.

“For our customers, data and digital assets are their essential competitive advantage,” said Western Digital SVP and Consumer Solutions Products GM Jim Welsh. “The world needs new, fundamental technologies to enable data privacy without hampering data availability while helping to protect against data breaches.”

The new ArmorLock SSD is available through the Western Digital Store, and from specific retailers in the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK. It will start at $599 for a 2TB model, while the matching ArmorLock app is a free download on iOS and macOS devices.

In addition to the new SSD, Western Digital released an open source version of the Sweet B core cryptography library that it used to build the ArmorLock Security Platform. Sweet B offers documentation, a comprehensive test suite, and independent auditing from Trail of Bits.

The ArmorLock is not the first SSD to offer some form of biometric security. For example, recent iterations of the MacBook Pro have come with SSD encryption and biometric authentication, although those are typically personal devices that are slightly more difficult to share. Samsung, on the other hand, has released a portable T7 Touch with fingerprint recognition capabilities.

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)