Introduction

In a day and age where posting your picture on the internet can lead to identity theft, it's no wonder most educated users are paranoid about data security. It's no secret and there are countless stories out there how criminals have successfully managed to extract confidential data from various sources without real sophisticated technology. With portable storage devices increasing in capacities and decreasing in size, more and more people tend to store mammoth amounts of data on these devices. Imagine loosing one of your backup drives containing a database of confidential customer data. It sure ain't gonna look good in your next performance review. So how do you protect your valuable data while still maintaining portability? Enter the world of military grade data encryption with the CRU DataPort SecureDock from CRU-DataPort.

For those who have not heard of CRU-DataPort here's a brief introduction of them:

"Founded in 1986, CRU-DataPort is a pioneer in data security and data mobility devices. The company's flagship DataPort®, along with Data Express® and RhinoJR® (formerly StorCase), and WiebeTech™ product brands of removable and external hard drive enclosures are the de facto standard for physical data security and safe data transporting in government, education and business markets. CRU-DataPort products are widely used in media rich data environments including audio/video production, digital cinema, video security capture, and disk-2-disk backup and archiving applications."

Features and Specifications:

Encryption Data

• Available in Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128
• AES 128 is Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) approved
• Encrypts entire HDD - including boot sector, OS, temp and swap files
• Encryption Key is stored apart from unit so data is protected if unit is lost or stolen
• High-Speed hardware processor encrypts/decrypts at full disk bandwidth operation (No performance degradation)
• Encryption Engine Performs Self-test to check for problems
• LEDs Indicate Encryption Error Checking and Power/Drive Activity
• Most units include three identical pre-coded Security Keys
• AES Key Programmer, hand-held key progtammer, sold separately
• Additional blank and pre-coded Security Key's available, sold separately
• Additional Security Key lanyards available, sold separately

Compatibility Data

• Compatible with any capacity SATA 3.5" hard drive
• Compatible with existing (non-encrypted) SATA DataPort 10 Drive Carriers

Specifications

• USB 2.0 and eSATA Host Interface
• USB cable, eSATA cable and power supply included
• Rugged Metal Design For Ultimate Data Protection
• Patented Temperature Controlled Cooling System regulates fan speed
• LEDs show Power, Drive activity and Security Key status
• High durability connectors rated for over 30,000 insertions
• Audible fan failure alarm
• Ultra-quiet Vapo Bearing MagLev (Magnetic Levitation System) cooling fan
• Supports DataPort 10 Secure and DataPort 10 (non-encrypted) SATA hard drive carriers
• Free backup software is included with every purchase of a SecureDock preconfigured with a hard drive.
  • ProSoft's award-winning backup software (a $59 value) for free!
• Transfers data at the fastest rates supported by USB 2.0 & eSATA interfaces:
  • USB 2.0 = up to 480Mb/sec
  • eSATA = up to 1.5 Gb/sec

• 1-Year Warranty
• CE, RoHS

Design

• Dimensions*
  6.8 W x 11.1 L x 2.4 H (inch)
  172 W x 282 L x 61 H (mm)
  * Dimensions are for reference only

From the first looks the CRU DataPort SecureDock does not look any different to a standard hard drive enclosure. The top enclosure is made of aluminum and has CRU DataPort written on it. It's slightly heavier than those standard generic enclosures you find, which could be attributed to the extra components built into the SecureDock and extra thickness of the aluminum casing.

Looking at the front panel you're offered with 3 LEDs for power, HDD activity and indicator to say whether the security token is plugged in or not. Furthermore there's a key lock to ensure the drive cannot be removed by unauthorized personnel. The mini USB port you see in front can be misleading to some. It's not for connecting an external drive; rather it's to connect the security token (provided) to enable data access.



Going to the rear of the unit, you are offered with a USB and eSATA port, DIN type power connection port and a power switch.



Taking a peek inside the secure dock you notice that they have installed two cooling fans, which is certainly a welcome feature considering how hot drives can get (especially if you're running a 7200RPM hard drive). Furthermore you'll notice the SATA port connector on the right hand side where the SATA hard drive connects to.



Here's a view of the SecureDock side by side to the docking station. I'm quite impressed by the quality standards CRU-DataPort have maintained in producing this device. The Aluminum outer structure is considerably thick and provides adequate protection to a hard drive once installed.



Installation of the SecureDock is very straight forward. The unit we received came with a 500GB drive built in; however you can use any SATA drive upto 2TB in size.

Note that if you are not looking at mobility you can remove the SecureDock from its docking station and connect it directly to a 5 1/4 Drive bay.

What's so special about the CRU-SecureDock?

It can be summed up in one word "Security". As mentioned at the beginning of this review the SecureDock is capable of encrypting data it writes to the hard drive on the fly without any performance degradation. The CRU DataPort SecureDock encrypts data using military grade AES 128bit cryptography ensuring complete protection for data it stores. The beauty of this device is that the complete hard drive is encrypted which includes the boot sector, OS, Temp and swap files. Now one would expect a performance hit due to the extra overhead of encrypting data, however the DataPort SecureDock comes with a High-Speed hardware processor that encrypts/decrypts data at full disk bandwidth.

CRU DataPort provides 3 Encryption keys with the SecureDock. Anyone of these keys can be plugged into the SecureDock to make the drive usable and since the encryption key is always kept separate to the device your data is still protected if the SecureDock is lost or stolen. The encryption keys are provided with tags making it easy to hang the key around your neck. Get used to the habit of always removing the encryption key from the device when not needed or it'll be like pasting the combination of a safe on the safe door.

The encryption standard on the SecureDock is FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) approved  so you can be assured of its quality standards. FIPS is a U.S. government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules. For those interested, you might like to know that the DataPort SecureDock holds a FIPS-197 validation. 

"FIPS establishes the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) as a joint effort by the NIST and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) for the Canadian government.

Security programs overseen by NIST and CSE focus on working with government and industry to establish more secure systems and networks by developing, managing and promoting security assessment tools, techniques, services, and supporting programs for testing, evaluation and validation; and addresses such areas as: development and maintenance of security metrics, security evaluation criteria and evaluation methodologies, tests and test methods; security-specific criteria for laboratory accreditation; guidance on the use of evaluated and tested products; research to address assurance methods and system-wide security and assessment methodologies; security protocol validation activities; and appropriate coordination with assessment-related activities of voluntary industry standards bodies and other assessment regimes." Source: wikipedia.org

In the past I have used software products that encrypt data; however this is the first time I have come across a fully fledged hardware device that encrypts your total hard drive on the fly.

If you want to manage your own security keys, CRU-DataPort offers an AES Key Programmer (Sold separately) providing you a cost effective way for you to create and manage your own Security Keys without relying on any outside vendor. I don't see the need for the average home user to be this paranoid and go as far as getting the AES Key Programmer, however for corporates this can be a basic necessity.

Just for kicks we wanted to try out our Encase V3 Forensics investigating software and see if it could read the data stored in the encrypted drive. Encase is an industry leading Forensics Investigating tool and we simply extracted the data stored on the Dataport SecureDock through the software to see if it would be readable. The Encase version we have isn't the latest copy out there, nevertheless the extracted data wasn't in any readable format proving the fact that the SecureDock actually does what it states.

Performance:

The unit we received from CRU-DataPort came with a 500GB hard drive and tests were done on this drive. Make note however you can upgrade this drive to fit your needs. 

As the tests show there's hardly any noticeable performance hit while using the DataPort SecureDock. It performs on par with the speeds you would expect during normal operation without the SecureDock.

Conclusion:

CRU-DataPort offers the Dataport SecureDock in 5 varients. Depending on your budget they offer the unit with no hard drive, 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB variants. The basic model with no hard drive will set you back around US$274 while the 2TB model can go upto around $600. CRU-Dataport has a listing of resellers for their products (Click here for list) or you can purchase one from their own online store.

From a price point the Dataport SecureDock might be out of reach for most home users considering the cost of a basic hard drive enclosure is around $30. However security is a very subjective question and given the security threats around at present times no one is really safe from data theft. The target market for this product would ideally be SME and large enterprises whose data is extremely sensitive in nature. However if you as an end user require mobility as well as good protection for your data, the DataPort SecureDock is second to none. Its military grade AES 128bit encryption will ensure your data will not be readable by any means in the event it lands in the wrong hands (It'll most likely take a few years to break the encryption using supercomputers). Of course you need to make sure the encryption key isn't placed on the drive when it's not in use or the game is over if you loose the drive.

One of the biggest advantages of the Dataport SecureDock is it's High-Speed hardware processor that encrypts/decrypts data at full disk bandwidth. End users would hardly feel any difference using the drive while reading or writing data to it, even though one would expect some latency during the encryption/decryption process. The Dataport SecureDock has been tested for 3Gb/s full duplex operation when connected through the eSATA port.

To summarize, if you're looking for mobility and superior encryption to protect your valuable data the Dataport SecureDock comes with a double thumbs up recommendation. Only negative point is its price which makes it not affordable to the average user. As we all know security is never cheap and always comes at a price and if your data is of immense importance to you the price of the SecureDock is negligible. Its on the fly encryption and military grade 128bit AES encryption certainly makes it a number one choice when making a purchasing decision.

• Performance 98%
• Value 92%
• Quality 99%
• Features 98%
• Innovation 99%