External hard drives with encryption

External hard drives with hardware encryption offer the highest standards in terms of data security. Encryption hardware is able to securely store data without the use of separate software.

As a rule, this technology is used for external hard drives and sometimes also for internal models.

Data exchanged between an external hard drive and the controller (PC, notebook, etc...) is encrypted by the hardware in real time. In addition to this, the hard drive cannot be put into operation without entering a code or using a special key.

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What are the advantages of an encrypted external hard drive?

Compared to hard drives, the one special encryption software use, the required computing power is lower. Cryptographic Operations are complicated and require high performance.

The hardware of the encrypted hard drives is based on a slimmer solution, which noticeably reduces the system load. This is also noticeable in the read and write speeds.

Because if complicated arithmetic operations do not have to be carried out first, the disk can of course switch to writing, reading and transferring data more quickly.

Keypad encryption

external hard drives, which are provided with a keypad, via a Pin entry unlocked. This can consist of numbers and letters. If the pin is not correctly specified, the hard disk cannot be put into operation.

The hard drives are equipped with a touchscreen display, which is used to enter the necessary information - the whole thing works quite intuitively, just like with a Smartphone.

The big advantage is that no additional hardware is required here apart from the plate - although the pin should of course be treated confidentially.

Encryption with key

If the hardware does not work with a keypad, there are variants with it RFID key. The hard drives are recognized after connecting to the controller, but do not allow access. If you hold the appropriate RFID key over the plate, this unlocked.

This variant is particularly popular because access is only possible with the keys, so that a corresponding key card can be issued to authorized persons and this can be taken back if necessary without the key necessarily having to be changed - although you can lose such a card, of course, which poses a security risk.

External hard drive with encryption: what are the disadvantages?

In terms of Data security is choosing one Hard disk with hardware encryption certainly the best option. However, the additional features have a negative impact in other areas.

A touchscreen display is a power guzzler, often resulting in the larger panels requiring an external power connection.

The transmission rates are also throttled compared to devices that do not have encryption or decryption - because the full performance can be used for the actual purpose of storing and transferring data.

If you lose the key for the hard drive or forget the pin code, the data is lost in the worst case. If you have the relevant documents, you can contact the manufacturer Spare keys for the RFID-protected plates receive. Of course, this is not without a great deal of effort and additional costs.

Depending on the model, entering an incorrect pin several times can lead to the hard disk being locked. It is difficult to pull the data from the hard drive afterwards. So extreme caution is required.

What do I have to consider when buying an encrypted external hard drive?

Hard drives with RFID keys should offer the option of replacing lost or broken keys with the manufacturer. In addition, it is important that the disks offer a comfortable data processing speed.

A changing keypad display is another security feature on the variants with a touchscreen. It doesn't end up being the same fingerprint pattern on the surface that allows conclusions to be drawn about the code.

For whom is an encrypted external hard drive suitable?

This type of hard drives usually comes in commercial environment for use. Companies store customer data, internal communication and important documents on the specially secured hard drives.

But the hard drives are also used in some private contexts. Copies of private bank records, title deeds, etc. are safely kept here.

In terms of price, these variants are slightly higher than the prices of the unencrypted offers, although there are of course clear differences between the individual records. Disks that are encrypted according to military standards are particularly cost-intensive but also expensive.

Currently, the offer is also quite manageable. However, the increasing demand for higher data security is bringing movement to the market. More and more manufacturers are working on products that meet high safety standards and at the same time offer good value for money.