Seagate Ships Encrypted Laptop Platform

By: Patrick Hoffman
[i]March *2, 2007[/i]
[url]http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,*8*5,2*0*05*,00.asp[/url]

[b]Seagate Ships Encrypted Laptop Platform[/b]

Seagate Technology LLC announced March *2 that it will ship its encrypting PC hard drive, the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (full disc encryption), to ASI Computer Technology's newest laptop PC, the C8*05, offering a diverse set of hardware-based security features.

The Momentus 5400 FDE.2 is a hard drive that provides business professionals with *60GB of storage space, a Serial ATA interface and a hardware-based AES (advanced encryption standard). The AES is a government-grade security protocol that automatically encrypts hard-drive information, enabling users to block unauthorized access to information on lost or stolen laptops.

The encrypting hard drive from Seagate, based in Scotts Valley, Calif., also enables businesses to retire laptops without losing important information while also staying in line with data privacy laws.

Click here to read more about Seagate's hard drive market share.

"Computer security is a growing concern for all of our channel ********s and for good reason as the theft of intellectual property, ******** information and other precious content stored on laptops can cost organizations dearly in legal remedies and ******** retention," Kent Tibbils, ASI senior director of Platform Technologies and Marketing, said in a company release.

Seagate's encrypting hard drive will be integrated into ASI's, a notebook PC provider, C8*05 laptop PC, which will be available in April. The C8*05's inclusion of the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 will feature a biometric fingerprint reader that can be used for user authentication.

To help set up Seagate's Momentus 5400 FDE.2, the ASI C80*5 will include Wave Systems, a security platform distributor, and Embassy Security Center's Trusted Drive Manager, which also allows business users to set up and back up passwords, manage hard-drive policies and control security settings.


The laptop from Fremont, Calif.-based ASI will also integrate Seagate's DriveTrust Technology, a security platform that allows business users to add security-based applications that provide businesses with encryption-key management capabilities, multi-factor user authentication and other features that help protect a user's digital information.

Seagate also announced that it has released its 7200-rpm notebook PC hard drive, the Momentus 7200.2, which provides users with various security and storage capabilities.

The Momentus 7200.2 is designed for mainstream notebook PCs, workstations and RAID (redundant array of independent or inexpensive disks) enclosures. It is offered in 80GB, *00GB, *20GB and *60GB capacities.

The notebook PC hard drive from Seagate also offers an optional free-fall sensor, which helps to protect drive damage and data loss in case the laptop is dropped. This sensor can identify changes in acceleration equal to the force of gravity and then move the head off the disc to block contact with the platter during a free fall.

"The Momentus 7200.2 hard drive epitomizes Seagate's focus on delivering cutting-edge technologies that make it easier to move, use and protect digital information in the home, in the office and on the go," Michael Wingert, Seagate's executive vice president and general manager for Personal Compute Business, said in a company release.

Seagate's Momentus 7200.2 is able to endure up to *00g of non-operating shock and *50g of operating shock to help protect drive data. It also allows business users to work longer between battery charges.

The Momentus 7200.2 is available now and costs $*88.