Data Encryption for Storage Devices

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Revision as of 21:32, 10 April 2009 by Shellya (Talk)
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Data Encryption for Storage Devices is a special case of data at rest[1] protection. Data can be encrypted through the use of software, or hardware itself can encrypt data as it is saved to the device.

Contents

Data Encryption

Encryption is used in cryptography to transform plaintext to ciphertext[2]. In the case of storage devices, encrypted data that is stored can only be accessed with the proper authentication. Physical theft of the medium negates password protection since the data can simply be read from it. On the other hand, if the data was encrypted before being written, the data is still protected unless the key is known.

Implementations

Data can be encrypted through the use of different software, or the storage device itself can encrypt the data.

Hardware Implementation

Encrypted hard disks have been available since April 2008[2] but an actual standard was agreed upon and established in January 2009[3].

Software Implementation

Software encryption is offered natively in MAC OSX and Windows Vista[4] as well as commercial or free applications.

Storage Mediums

Talk about hard drives and usb keys lol!

A USB flash drive that stores encrypted data

Hard Disk Drives

HDD yay!

USB Keys

Thumb drives!

See Also

References

[1] Data at rest definition

[2] Wikipedia:Encryption

[2] Fujitsu Ups Ante on Integral Hard Disk Encryption

[3] Coming soon: Full-disk encryption for all computer drives

[4] Protect Your Data With Whole-Disk Encryption

External Links

Shellya 17:32, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

Retrieved from "http://wiki.cas.mcmaster.ca/index.php/Data_Encryption_for_Storage_Devices"
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