DiskCrypt turns any laptop storage into a self-encrypted drive
At CES, Singapore-based ST Electronics was showing off a new security device that can be installed in nearly any notebook computer to protect its data from prying eyes—Digisafe DiskCrypt, a hard-disk enclosure that turns any 1.8-inch micro-SATA device into removable and fully encrypted storage. The enclosure, which is the size of a 2.5" drive, can be used as a drop-in replacement for existing drives.
Some of the biggest data breaches have happened because of lost or stolen storage. I have some personal experience in this department: I've had my personal information potentially exposed on a few occasions now, including once in 2006 by the theft of a laptop and unencrypted external drive from an employee of Department of Veterans Affairs. As a result, at-rest encryption of data has become a major issue for companies trying to prevent data breaches from laptops that grow legs, lest they run afoul of Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, or other regulations.
One solution is encrypting the contents of the drive with software like Bitlocker or Mac OS X's FileVault. But even with AES encryption, software-based approaches aren't always a deterrent to a determined attacker—keys can sometimes be recovered from the PC's memory.
