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Cover Story
Toshiba TEC UK Imaging
Systems has put clear blue
water between itself and
other MFP providers with the
introduction of a new hard
disk drive that raises security
levels on its colour and mono
MFPs to new heights.
Leader of the pack
Toshiba’s self-encrypting drives (SEDs) with Wipe
technology raise the bar in MFP security, ensuring that
data on print devices is protected and secure at all times
Already one of just two
MFP manufacturers to have
achieved the highest level of
the IEEE 2600 MFP security
standard, Toshiba has now
gone beyond what even this
demanding certification requires
by launching the world’s first
self-encrypting drives with Wipe
technology.
This new Toshiba
development encrypts data on
the hard disk in near real-time
and requires the MFP it has
been built into to authenticate
itself before allowing access to
data. If a drive is powered down,
removed from its housing or
connected to an unauthorised
system, Wipe technology
automatically invalidates an
SED’s data and encryption
keys, effectively making
any data stored on the disk
indecipherable.
As well as protecting data on
stolen devices, Wipe technology
can be used by an IT department
to clean disks when machines
come to the end of their life
or are re-deployed in other
business departments.
According to Toshiba TEC
UK Imaging Systems product
manager Chris Mills, Wipe is
much easier and quicker than
existing options.
“Toshiba self-encrypting
hard drives will only work if they
recognise the system-based
key and 256-bit algorithm,” he
explains. “At end of life rather
than over-writing five or six times,
which is what the MoD does, or
putting a hole through the disk,
wiping the key in the system
board immediately invalidates
the hard drive. This can be done
in seconds, which is a big benefit
if you have lots of machines to
replace.”
The 2.5-inch drives are
already built into Toshiba’s
new colour MFPs and are
being extended to the latest
mono devices in early 2012.
Secure authentication is set
as the default, so that data is
automatically protected should
a disk be removed and/or
connected to an unauthorised
host system. Other options, such
as routine data invalidation at
end of life, can be enabled by
the IT department.
Essential protection
Mills argues that this degree of
protection is essential because
every time an MFP scans,
copies or prints, a ghost image
remains on the hard disk. Over
...when you print, copy
or scan, there’s a ghost
image on the MFPs
hard drive...