Entered CNET Catalog: 10/15/2008
SKU: 0763649009123
Manufacturer: Seagate Technology Inc.
Manufacturer description
Designed for those who have valuable information they wish to keep secure and private, the Maxtor BlackArmor product is an attractive, portable solution that provides unparalleled security for direct attached storage devices. Using Seagate Secure technology, Maxtor's BlackArmor drive is designed to keep data locked up and protected in the event of loss or theft. Seagate Secure technology is a hardware-based encryption, making the encryption transparent to the user and free of complicated installation and use procedures required by software based security. The Maxtor BlackArmor external storage solution uses a government-grade AES encryption certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to deliver the strongest commercially available data security available for external storage. The Maxtor BlackArmor product provides transparent, real-time encryption of all the data on the device, not just selected files; providing performance and ease of use advantages over manual software-based security controls. The BlackArmor product also puts all security keys and cryptographic operations within the device, delivering stronger protection against hacking and tampering than traditional software alternatives. The BlackArmor product's key encryption technology can also securely wipe out the data for simple, cost-effective redeployment or disposal of the product - an important capability for organizations of all sizes.User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 2 user reviews
Black Armor incompatible with PGP Software
Pros: No pros--problems encountered during initial testing prevented a full evaluation of how Black Armor performed.
Cons: Our organization's testing discovered that Black Armor's Manager Configuration software is incompatible with PGP software (including PGP WholeDisk and PGP Desktop).
Review: According to Seagate's own technical users forum, Seagate has been aware of this incompatibilty issue since last year, but has failed to issue a fix. It ironic that a drive with hardware encryption will not work with encryption software like PGP that is widely used in organizations needing to secure data at rest. We were also disappointed to find poor technical documentation and broken web links on the Seagate support site. Finally, calls to Seagate technical support resulted in multiple disconnects and failure to reach a technical support person. We have advised our puchasing department to block all individual and volume purchases of Black Armor until these issues are resolved.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 2 user reviews
Drive is great though a little slow
Pros: Compact well designed form is excellent
Cons: Slow transfer speeds and the installation instructions fail to mention XP and the conflict with PGP. Seagate support is less than acceptable.
Review: Great drive but check out the maxtor site for FAQs and installation issues before trying to install. This will minimize frustration.
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