Intel 320 SSD Encryption question?

[smakme7757]

I've decided to get a 160GB Intel 320 so i don't have to use Truecrypt/bitlocker any more on any of my laptops.

My question is: After i have enabled the ATA password (Drive lock on my HP laptop) i presume the encryption is then enabled, is there any way to confirm that this is the case?

I guess i can always take out the drive and plug it into another PC, but some sort of check on the laptop would be useful.

Thank you.

 

[supe_k]

From all I've read about full disk encryption (FDE) method with normal platter disks goes like this: The contents on the hard drive are always encrypted, out of the box. This is done by the controller on the drive itself. The data on the platters are encrypted and information being written/read are encrypted/decrypted by the controller on the fly. The ATA password (Drive Lock, in HP terms), will lock the drive with the password(s) that you enter in the BIOS setup. The ATA password prevents an unauthorized user from using the hard drive until the password is entered. If the drive is physically taken out of the machine and placed into another computer or attached with a USB adapter, the computer will not be able to access the drive because it is locked.

I work with financial systems for my employer and use FDE drives for various users' laptops, mostly in accounting and higher managers. The drives that our vendors and our company user come from Seagate, WD, Samsung, and Hitachi. The documentation from these companies for their FDE drives basically state the same thing, but the securing the drive can differ depending on the model. It can be secured with ATA password other security/authentication systems.

 

[smakme7757]

Thanks very much for the reply. It's really goodhaving these hardware encrypted drives. It saves money from having to purchase Windows Enterprise/Ultimate or use 3rd party utilities like Bitlocker.

Good time saver!