Encrypted portable hard drives may not be as secure as you think

Stefan Mileschin · 23rd October 2015, 07:52

A group of security researchers figured it'd be fun to see how well self-encrypting external hard drives protect data, and their findings may surprise owners of these devices. Gunnar Alendal, Christian Kison and "modg" took a few stabs at breaking into portable drives from Western Digital's My Passport and My Book series. Shockingly, the researchers were able to gain full access to user data in many ways. The team tested models manufactured as recently as 2013, and they say the drives tested remain unpatched.

Most of the tested drives use a USB-to-SATA bridge chip from a third-party manufacturer (JMicron, Initio, and Symwave, to name three) that can also handle ...

http://techreport.com/news/29224/enc...e-as-you-think

23rd October 2015, 07:52	#1
Stefan Mileschin [M] Reviewer Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania Posts: 153,541	Encrypted portable hard drives may not be as secure as you think A group of security researchers figured it'd be fun to see how well self-encrypting external hard drives protect data, and their findings may surprise owners of these devices. Gunnar Alendal, Christian Kison and "modg" took a few stabs at breaking into portable drives from Western Digital's My Passport and My Book series. Shockingly, the researchers were able to gain full access to user data in many ways. The team tested models manufactured as recently as 2013, and they say the drives tested remain unpatched. Most of the tested drives use a USB-to-SATA bridge chip from a third-party manufacturer (JMicron, Initio, and Symwave, to name three) that can also handle ... http://techreport.com/news/29224/enc...e-as-you-think

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