14 DAY TRIAL // Fujitsu Limited has announced today the release of a 320 GB 2.5" hard disk drives series which features automatic hardware-based encryption. The MHZ2 CJ Series is the first one of hard disk drives to have the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) has been implemented directly into the hard disk drive processor chip, allowing the HDD to provide more security and fast system performance in comparison to software based encryptions that slow it down.
Encryption of data is provided automatically through the built-in AES. The hard drive encrypts data when it is stored on it and decrypts it at reading. The memory of the computer is not involved in the process, as it is when software based encryption is used. System performance is optimized, as no processing overhead is imposed to computer's processor, making the system more resistant to attacks as well.
The hard drive allows also instant erase of all data stored on the hard disk through the secure erase feature. Confidential information on high-capacity hard drives is put at risk when computers are lost or stolen. BIOS passwords and software based encryption used to be the conventional solution to this problem. In its attempt to provide a better solution for data security, Fujitsu designed the MHZ2 CJ Series of 2.5" hard disk drives that feature the industry leading, 256-bit key hardware-based AES encryption.
"With the growing problem of data theft and misappropriation, the need for enhanced data security is now higher than ever. The MHZ2 CJ series of hard disk drives combine maximum data security features with high performance," said Mr Loh Chong Shing, Regional Senior Vice President of Fujitsu Asia.
The encryption feature is not the only characteristic of the new MHZ2 series. The hard disk drives provide a 7200-rpm rotation speed and they come with a 3.0 Gb/s Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface. The hard drives are developed in models of 80GB, 120 GB, 160 GB, 250 GB and 320 GB storage capacity and offer 10.5ms (read) and 12.5 ms (write) average seek time. Data transfer rate rises to a maximum of 300MB/sec and the buffer size is 16MB.
The hard disk series will be available on the market at the end of May 2008.