Apricorn: Aegis Fortress L3 Encrypted With FIPS Validation USB 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 HDDs and SSDs

Apricorn, Inc. announced Fortress L3 with FIPS validation encrypted USB 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 drives for regulated industries including finance, government, power and energy, legal and healthcare.

This device features the company’s latest encryption chipset that gives SSD versions of the Aegis Fortress L3 write speeds up to 150% faster and read speeds up to 180% faster.

The product’s complete FIPS 140-2 Level-3 validation (pending Q1 2019) is the highest level assigned by NIST to portable encrypted devices and the validation boundary includes the electronics, drive and enclosure. The enclosure itself is milled from a solid block of aircraft-grade 6061 aluminum alloy with snap-off unidirectional security fasteners cemented with epoxy to capture evidence of tampering. The membrane-style keypad carries an IP66 certification (pending) against water, dust and grit penetration. The ruggedized exterior is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, demanding field conditons, and resistance to shock.

Like all Aegis secure drives and secure keys, the Fortress L3 is software-free in setup and use; all passwords and commands are entered by way of the device’s onboard keypad and all authentication and encryption processes take place within the device itself, never sharing password or encryption key data with its host computer. Featuring military-grade 256-bit AES XTS encryption and locked down firmware, the Fortress cannot be updated further – making it immune to malware such as ‘BadUSB.’ The device comes standard with Forced Enrollment (no default PINs), two read-only modes, data recovery PINs, and Aegis Configurator compatibility.

“Data protection concerns will continue to rise globally in light of GDPR and the upcoming California Consumer Privacy Act in 2020 as will the growing need to securely store and move large amounts of sensitive data offline, avoiding potential targeting in the cloud and software encryption vulnerabilities,” said Mike McCandless, VP, sales and marketing, Apricorn. “Our new Aegis Fortress L3 gives regulated industries the highest level of security validation for small form-factor storage systems and ensures compliance with Article 32 of GDPR.“

Aegis Fortress L3 with interchangeable Type-A and Type-C connector cables features:

256-Bit AES XTS military-grade hardware encryption: Encrypts all data on the fly
Software-free: Ready to use right out of the box; no software, no drivers, no updates
OS agnostic: Compatible with PC, MAC, Linux, Android, Symbian or any mass storage compliant system with a powered USB port
Forced enrollment: No factory-preset default PINs
Aegis configurator compatible: Create custom profiles and mass configure multiple Aegis devices at once
Onboard keypad: All PIN entries are performed on the device’s keypad making it compatible with systems without keyboards and shares no critical security parameters with its host computer
Lock-Override mode: Can be programmed to remain unlocked during reboot / USB re-enumeration
Two read-only modes: Preserve data in its original, unaltered state while blocking malware
Data recovery PINs that provide access to the device in the event of forgotten PINs
Programmable brute force protection: After a predetermined number of consecutive incorrect PIN entry attempts, the Aegis Fortress L3 will conclude that it is under Brute Force and destroy its encryption key and PINs rendering the data useless
Increased storage capacities: one to 5TB in HDD models; 500GB to 16TB in SSD models

The Aegis Fortress L3 is available.

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