Reviews

iStorage DiskCrypt Mobile Review

If you're carrying sensitive data around on an unsecured portable hard disk, you're asking for trouble. iStorage's DiskCrypt Mobile wants to keep your data safe.

by: Jennifer Scott

14 Oct 2009

Price

£184

We are all aware how important security is for our data, especially when we take it with us on the move. There are often reports about how employees have lost laptops, USB sticks or external hard drives containing valuable data and have not made any attempt to encrypt it.

To this end, DigiSafe has released its latest product, the DiskCrypt Mobile, claiming to offer simple, safe encryption and mobility for your hard disk. But does it live up to this declaration?

The premise of the device is like a cash machine, offering you a credit card and PIN to encrypt a hard drive within a solid casing to keep it safe.

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At first glance the device looks a bit cheap, with an admittedly tactile black rubber outside but an unimpressive keypad. Unfortunately, the cheapness stops there as the best price we could find was 212.75. Admittedly this does include a 160GB 2.5in SATA hard drive, but even for just the enclosure the price came in at a hefty 151.80.

It comes with both USB 2.0 and Firewire 400/800 connections and should be powered by your PC or laptop. It does provide an AV adapter connection in case this fails but not the actual adapter itself, which considering the price is a bit of a let down.

The usage and security is a lot more impressive though. The user starts with an eight digit default PIN and after putting one of the chip and PIN smart cards into the device you get two in case one gets lost the number is typed in.

We appreciated the attention to security here with not just one but two secure steps to get access to the drive, whilst still retaining simplicity and usability that other options may lack.