SanDisk Backup 16gb

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I hate SanDisk sometimes. Their "hardware encryption" is simply the enabled of the password. There is nothing different from the standard U3 drives than the "Backup" drives, other than the later has a button.

There is no way to test if the data is actually encrypted. Atleast it only cost me $50 to find out this gimmick was BS. Should have stuck with the normal drives. Oh well. Maybe I can mod the settings to use a TrueCrypt container.

Has anyone been able to verify if there is any kind of hardware encryption happening?

 

[Moonbeam]

I thought you were in the wrong forum, sorry!

 

[PandaBear]

Disclaimer: I work for SanDisk, as a firmware guy, but not with the security dept.

What I can say is the security of the product is really there. The key that encrypt the data is stored within the ASIC and cannot be read/modified without rendering the chip unable to be used as a security device anymore. Hence the cost is high.

Due to some stupidity in the secure product department that I don't want to go into (intra company politics included), our U3 performance sucks and the product is expensive to build. But still, the encryption is very strong, to a point that if we make a mistake in development, we have to throw the ASIC away, and any encrypted product that comes back from the customer must be reflashed into a non-secure product, and no possibility of doing any failure recovery of the data.

Is the answer good enough for you?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

It is more comforting. I have come to love to love the U3 software and the SanDisk thumb drives. But having security on an item and not being able to test it is only questionable security, especially without internal or specialized knowledge.

Now to get the drive working in Windows 7, and to petition SanDisk to quick using that damn RapidShare crap for downloading U3 software.

 

[VirtualLarry]

U3 is a PITA.