New security technology for 2.5-inch encrypted hard disk drives

Fujitsu Computer Products of America has developed new security technology to make its 2.5-inch encrypted hard disk drives (HDDs) support the Opal Security Subsystem Class (Opal SSC). Opal SSC is a new storage security standard announced on January 27, 2009 by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), an international organization involved in setting security standards for computing environments.

The TCG's Opal SSC specification has been adopted as an international standard with the aim of creating more secure IT environments. When used in combination with supporting application software, HDDs that support Opal SSC enable sophisticated security solutions for a wide range of computing platforms, including notebook PCs.

The TCG recently standardized the Opal SSC specification for advanced security solutions in computing environments. As an active member of the TCG, Fujitsu led the formulation of the standard, and has subsequently developed technology for Opal based 2.5-inch HDDs with encryption features.

The newly developed HDD security technology, when used in combination with application software supporting Opal SSC, will enable advanced security features such as pre-boot authentication and secure partition.

Pre-boot authentication performs user authentication when starting up the computer. Using an HDD that supports the Opal SSC standard allows for the use of advanced authentication techniques, such as biometric authentication or smart-card authentication, even before starting up Windows or other operating systems, making it possible to build an environment more secure than existing ones, which rely on password input via keyboard.

Secure partition is a technology enabling the HDD's storage to be partitioned into a number of secure storage regions. Each partition can be protected under its own encryption key, giving access to only the valid owner of partition and users given access by the owner. This allows, for example, for content and its licensing data to be stored and protected in separate partitions, so that different partitions can be used depending on the nature of the data stored, enabling more secure data management.

Fujitsu is working with independent software vendors to implement these functions, including McAfee, SECUDE, Wave Systems, and WinMagic.