3 years
The model can be programmed with separate independent User and Admin PINs. If one of the users forgets his PIN, the admin will be able to reset it for him. The drive is FIPS 140-2 level 3 validated. The Brute Force Hack Mechanism will reliably protect it against brute force attacks.
The drive tends to heat up after some time.
The Apricorn ASK3Z-8GB is probably the most versatile encrypted drive on the market today. The unit is software-free and it works with any operating system. Aside from its superb digital security measures, the rugged drive is also dust- and waterproof.
8GB (16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB)
3.1 USB Flash Drive
~190 Mb/s (read speed), ~80 Mb/s (write speed)
0.8 oz
56-bit AES XTS hardware encryption, FIPS 140-2 level 3 validation, Brute Force Hack Defense Mechanism (data deletion after 4-20 incorrect password entries), Dust- and waterproof(IP67 class)
3 years
The protective cap is rather weak and might occasionally fall off.
5 years
1 year
10 years
Capacity and Type
Data Transfer Rate
Size and Design
Protection
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $177.32 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B007JGB0EI |
What customers say about this product
Size & Weight(4.8)
Features(4.6)
Just Enough Space
Though capacity was the first thing we've addressed in our "What to look for" section of the review, let's be real here for a moment - you don't really need an encrypted drive with a large amount of space.
What you need to protect is your private information, documents, online wallets, logins to different platforms, etc. None of these things require that much space. In fact, they require very little space. In fact, about a million pages of a Word document still weigh less than a single Full HD movie.
So, it isn't about space, it is about security, both digital and mechanical. And, when it comes to security, the Apricorn ASK3Z-8GB is no joke.
User and Admin PINs
First things first, the model can be programmed with independent User and Admin PINs. This little feature alone makes the drive particularly suitable for corporate and government deployment. If one of the users forgets his PIN, the admin will be able to reset it for him without having to wipe out the contents on the drive.
As it is usually the case with high-end encryption drives, the Apricorn ASK3Z-8GB comes equipped with an onboard PIN authentication that employs 256-bit AES XTS hardware encryption.
But one thing that you can say about this model and not about the majority of its competition is that it is FIPS 140-2 level 3 validated. That means that the unit meets U.S government standards and requirements for information security. The validation in question certifies 11 areas of cryptographic security. These areas include physical security, design integrity, and, most importantly, cryptographic key management.
FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validated
Generally speaking, no matter how good your digital security is, a brute force attack still remains an ever-looming threat. But the people behind this drive have implemented a seemingly simplistic but undeniably effective way of protecting your data against this kind of attack.
The so-called Brute Force Hack Mechanism that the model incorporates is a programmable setting that destroys the data and deletes the encryption key if someone enters an incorrect PIN more times than the programmed limit allows.
Considering the aforementioned feature, it goes without saying that the drive comes embedded 7-16 digit PIN authentication that includes forced enrollment.
Cross-Platform Compatible
Aside from user forced enrollment, this encryption drive features an array of security measures. The list includes 2 read-only modes, a lock override that keeps the drive unlocked through USB re-enumeration or reboot, the ability to set one-time recovery PINs, and so on.
Finally, the model works with Aegis Configurator. For the uninitiated, Aegis Configurator is an application that lets the Admin configure 10 or more drives simultaneously.
All things considered, the Apricorn ASK3Z-8GB is probably the most versatile encrypted drive on the market today. The unit is software-free and it works with any operating system. Aside from its superb digital security measures, the rugged drive is also dust- and waterproof.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $163.00 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B01N175FSF |
Capacity and Type
Data Transfer Rate
Size and Design
Protection
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $48.94 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00G31OPB0 |
What customers say about this product
Size & Weight(3.9)
Features(4.7)
Capacity and Type
Data Transfer Rate
Size and Design
Protection
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $306.97 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00CBD67NS |
What customers say about this product
Size & Weight(5)
Features(4.3)
Capacity and Type
Data Transfer Rate
Size and Design
Protection
Additional Info
| Last updated price | $47.87 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B06XNQH822 |
What customers say about this product
Size & Weight(3.5)
Features(4.6)
Infographics
What Is an Encrypted Drive?
We live in the world of cutting-edge computer technologies and lots of users might be able to hack your computer and spill the beans. For this reason, people do not feel protected against sensitive data leak and try to store their content on external drives. For every person, sensitive information may mean different data, ranging from photos or films they store on a drive to some top secret papers that should be hidden from public view. Fortunately, the problem of information integrity may be solved by purchasing an encrypted drive. This unit is not just an ordinary HDD device where you can store your content. The encrypted drives are the units with high-grade security and they protect your sensitive data using special encryption methods.
Moreover, some manufacturers include password protection or provide added security by embedding a fingerprint scanner to gain access to information on your device. You can always carry a drive with you as such devices are lightweight and portable. Thus, if you've lost an encrypted drive or it has been stolen, you can be sure that no one will access your device without entering the right PIN. However, we do recommend you to not forget your password as most models will delete all the information after a certain number of incorrect password entries.
But if you don't require such an advanced data protection level and need a device that will provide you with additional disk space, you can read our review on external hard drives.
What Features to Compare
The most important feature you need to consider when purchasing an encrypted drive is its Type and Capacity. The capacity of an encrypted drive is a feature that tells you how much data you can store on a device. The volume of data storage ranges from several gigabytes to several terabytes hence, you may choose the drive with the capacity that will satisfy your needs. The next parameter to take into consideration is the type of an encrypted drive. There are 2 major types available on the market: a hard drive and a flash drive. A hard drive is a heavyish device about the size of a palm that comprises several spinning platters and a roving head. The head is meant to read the data that have been magnetically imprinted on the platters. On the other hand, a flash drive is a fairly small device about the size of a thumb. Flash drives refer to solid-state memory chips and have no moving parts, thus, they are known to last longer. But the main difference between these 2 types is that hard drives offer a lot more storage space than flash drives, however, they are more expensive.
Next thing you should consider is the Data Transfer Rate of an external drive. This figure determines how fast the data can be transferred from/to a USB drive. This parameter is quite important for those who work with large volumes of data and want to gain time. The transfer rate primarily depends on what type of USB interface is used: it can be either USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.
- USB 2.0 - the maximum data transfer rate reaches 480 Mbit/s. To increase the rate, the devices with USB 2.0 may feature external eSATA interface. Hence, eSATA is capable of increasing the data transfer rate up to 3.0 Gbit/s
- USB 3.0 - provides a data transfer rate up to 5.0 Gbit/s. This interface becomes more and more popular these days. USB 3.0 is compatible with USB 2.0 interface if your computer doesn't provide a built-in high-speed port.
As regards a hard drive, the data transfer rate also depends on several parameters:
- Spindle rotation speed - modern hard disk drives have a spindle rotation speed of 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM. But there are also devices boasting the speed of up to 15000 RPM. So, the higher the speed is, the faster a hard drive reads and writes data.
- Cache size - usually ranges between 8 Mb and 64 Mb. Cache - is reserved memory that stores data a computer most commonly requests for. The larger the cache size is, the faster a hard drive accesses memory.
Another feature people pay attention to is the Size and Design of an encrypted drive. These parameters determine the physical shape and portability (weight, dimensions) of a device. It should be mentioned that the external encrypted hard drives are either portable or desktop. A portable one works directly off the USB port and can be easily moved around. While a desktop encrypted drive requires a connection to the mains (via a power adapter) and is perfect for home use. The size or the form factor of a hard drive is measured in inches. Generally, the form factor of the hard drive disks varies from 2.5 inches to 3.5 inches (the size of a magnetic disc inside the casing). So, the smaller the form factor is, the more lightweight the hard drive is. However, flash drives are significantly smaller than hard drives, so you can carry them wherever you go.
Also, you surely need to pay attention to such feature as Protection of a drive. The devices have 2 main ways of gaining an access to data on a drive. So, some producers enable password protection - a user enters a password on a drive's housing or using a client software. Others include a fingerprint scanner on a device. As regards the data encryption, it is hardware-based and conforms to the Advanced Encryption Standard (FIPS PUB 197). AES is available in many encryption packages and the only publicly accessible cipher approved by the National Security Agency. So, AES is an international data encryption algorithm with different key and block sizes. Where each block has the size of 128 bits and three different key lengths: 128, 192 and 256 bits. AES offers 3 main encryption algorithms:
- ECB (Electronic Code Book) - the simplest encryption mode. It doesn't hide data patterns well and it doesn't provide serious message confidentiality.
- CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) - the common encryption mode used in many various applications. It eliminates protection weaknesses the ECB mode concedes.
- XTS - one of the strongest encryption algorithms. Provides greater data protection over the other block cipher modes, such as CBC and ECB.
The encrypted drives may also have additional protection features against external factors such as dust-proof-and-moisture-proof, shock-resistance, anti-tamper security, antitheft protection.