Security-minded Storage Devices

While the software industry continues to make strides in the area of security and data protection, the hardware industry shouldn’t be underestimated. With the announcement of storage devices like Toshiba’s MK-61GSYG hard disk drives, it may only be a matter of time before we see even more creative security features for hardware (due, in part, to industry-wide adoption of standards). Toshiba’s harddrive comes with some interesting security tricks, including the ability to configure the disk to erase itself when connected to an unauthorized host, and the ability for the drive to self-encrypt without relying on the host computer’s operating system for cryptographic operations.

Most of the features are drawn from the standards found in the Opal Security Subsystem Class (SSC) (pdf). The SSC is, in turn, based on the TCG Storage Architecture Core Specification. TCG is the same company behind the TPM platform standard, which was designed to let a system create and operate a trusted subenvironment from within an untrusted environment. The TPM platform still receives a fair amount of criticism for privacy issues and the potential for abuse.

A similar approach is used for some OPAL-compliant storage devices: dedicated on-board hardware that can handle a range of specialized operations (maintenance, authentication, cryptography) independently. The result is hardware like the MK-61GSYG, which probably meets many storage security requirements right out of the box. Although much can be said of the controversy that can surrounds newer standards, they can certainly provide a welcome stepping stone for innovation.