I gather they're neutral in terms of the current world events.
I use Kaspersky, and for now I still trust it.
Connect it to a second SATA cable in a Windows computer, and it sees that hard drive is connected, but cannot access it.
Take that drive and put it into another computer as the boot drive, and it requires the password to access it. Once that BIOS hard drive password has been set, and the Dell backdoor master disabled, it requires a drive-access password at boot time. Getting access to that encrypted data is done automatically at boot by the drive itself, UNLESS one has set the BIOS hard drive password, which then sets it on the drive. At least as far as a Samsung EVO 850 SSD is concerned in regards to having hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption, it's always using it. I have a Dell Latitude E6410 and had an EVO 850 in it. It's not TCG-Opal, but it is AES 256-bit encryption in hardware. I would call that 'hardware based' encryption." That is exactly what "Class 0" is in Samsung. The sevenforums writer states, "Using firmware (Free DOS or Linux on a chip) for this purpose should still qualify the encryption chain from hardware to user interface as 'hardware based'. Then he gave it to me to replace the 5400RPM drive with a Samsung EVO 850 SSD. I had to give the laptop back to the guy so that he could unencrypt it.
Putting the drive into a Windows 10 Pro 64-bit computer showed nothing but the hardware, but no partitions, basically saying "Yes, it's a hard drive," so I thought TrueCrypt would have been the same. When booted from a Linux version or Windows version of Paragon Hard Disk Manager, it could not access the drive to clone it. No, you didn't assume, because he was using TrueCrypt! My comment about being surprised the drive could be accessed at all was based upon a recent encounter with a drive encrypted with a Symantec product (I don't remember the name). Self Encrypting and Hardware encryption really depend on the actual hardware that host it so I understand why the manufacturer tool would be best. I assumed the OP was using TrueCrypt so no need of hardware encryption unless the OP had that enabled and didn't know that. Yes, you are correct on the sense of hardware encryption. Add better description of the encryption process.
And try using using the hdparm programme in Linux, though no guarantee because all SSD manufactures designs are different and you are totally dependent on the SSD hardware and software design for what info is stored where and how to work with it.Īnother thought that I had was to try working on the SSDs on a very old PC with an old BIOS as may allow more actions on the SSD.ĮDIT.
And if that does not work and it is an expensive SSD, try sending it back to them if the charge is not to much. It will be interesting to see what others know about the topic.Īs in my last post, I think the Manufactures tools would be favourite to try first. Here is something of a description for Intel SSDs.
I tried the same with an Intel 530 SSD with BIOS password set and it was inaccessible in other computers.Ĭan't say I fully understand the technology but encryption appears to be automatically built in and will be in addition to the TrueCrypt protection. I had to send it to Samsung for reset after Samsung Magician failed to reset it. I took out that drive and connected it to multiple other computers and none could access the drive. The encryption doesn't change that may be true with software encryption, but it is not true for a drive encrypted via BIOS hard disk password.at least not for a Samsung EVO 850 in a Dell Latitude E6410. I am surprised that a drive encrypted with TrueCrypt would let one even access the drive at all.Įncrypted drives are accessible from other devices or OS as hardware devices so you can actually format them or wipe them. Use the manufacturer's own tool to secure erase the drive in a few seconds, restoring it to a ready-to-use state. If you get into difficulties with the wiping then go to the manufactures Web Site and use their techniques and tools for the job such as: