It seems like the benefits are having the device lock/wipe itself after a set amount of attempts in case of a brute force attack and not having to run software to decrypt the drive on the device you plug it into.
I included a picture of the IronKey Keypad 200 but that’s just because it’s the first result that came up when I was looking for an example. There seem to be a few other manufacturers and models out there and they probably have different features.
I am curious what do you think of them? Do you think they are useful? Do you find it more a novelty?
It was an ExplainingComputers video titled Very Useful Small Computing Things that made me think of them.
I don’t trust hardware implementations of encryption in the same way I don’t trust hardware raid arrays.
The ones that went through FIPS 140-2 Type 3 or above validation are legit. We used Apricorn for CUI data…examples: https://www.archives.gov/cui/registry/category-list
These are handy if you have to move sensitive information but I’ve experienced more than one event at work where irreplaceable files were lost due to user error on these type of drives.
I couldn’t tell you about the lifespan of these devices either, something tells me the keys won’t last more than a few years if it’s being used regularly.
Good until you spill a Cuppasoup on it’s chinesium keyboard.
Useful for what? Hiding stuff from family-member or coworkers? Yeah sure. Why not.
Hiding stuff from professionals that really want your data? Probably not very helpful.
Also what about backup? One controller-malfunction and your stuff goes poof. I just assume the data is somehow important or else you wouldn’t care about such a device 😊
Hardware signing devices have lots of utility because they keep the key from ever being on the machine (which is more likely to be compomised). Think ledger or trezor for your Bitcoin. Hardware encryption devices are just really expensive and black-box ways to avoid Veracrypt.
If your encryption algorithm is secure, you have no use for automatic lock-out. If it’s not, automatic lockout won’t do much against an attacker with physical access to the device. Unless they are dumb enough to trigger the lockout AND the internal memory wipes itself sufficiently well AND/OR the attacker doesn’t have the resources to reverse engineer the device.
If your encryption algorithm is secure, you have no use for automatic lock-out.
This isn’t true. You need your algorithm and your key to be secure. If the key needs to be remembered or entered often it probably can’t be secure. So brute force protection becomes very important.
If it’s not, automatic lockout won’t do much against an attacker with physical access to the device.
This isn’t true. Yes, with enough time and effort it is possible to extract any data from any device. But in practice physical HSMs do an excellent job at raising the cost of key extraction. I would much rather have an attacker steal my Yubikey than a USB with my GPG key lying on it.
What is your use case for this?
- Confidential files in a public setting? Don’t fucking bring confidential files to a public setting. But if you must, a big bulky laptop with (good) FDE is a lot more sequre than a flash drive someone can pickpocket.
- Border crossing? Guess what? You paint a MASSIVE red flag on your back and get to learn that you don’t actually have all that many rights in the time between stepping on foreign soil and being admitted by customs. Congrats, you gave them the wrong code three times and it got wiped. They are going to break your face and put you in a black site.
- Hiding sensitive/highly illegal content in the event of a police investigation: Yeah… if you are at the point where there is a warrant (or black van) out for your arrest than it really doesn’t matter if they can see whatever you were looking at last night.
At my old job we required these for “thumb drives” and all they ever did was make reformatting machines pure hell.
They are interesting. But they are a huge red flag and scream examine me if it’s in your luggage and your crossing a boarder.
I’m somewhat dubious about a hardware system not having long term undiscovered flaws. Be sure to use software based data protection on top of the hardware solution.
Depending one where you are this may may be seen as normal in many airports as this isn’t uncommon in a business setting
But they are a huge red flag and scream examine me if it’s in your luggage and your crossing a boarder.
Good point. I guess you’d need to look into key disclosure laws at that point
Nice just look at the most worn buttons
Damn. Dude just comes in and ends the entire discussion.
It seems like these drives can use up to 15 digit pins and lock out after a set number of attempts. I don’t if that would be a huge issue
Yeah i dont see how this would be better then a run of the mill thumb drive (that doesnt scream im worth stealing) and just creating a cryptomator vault on it.
Seems like it’s a good starting point.
I wonder if you can encrypt the files prior to storing them on the key, which would then encrypt them a second time with a different method. Would the compromise the data in any meaningful way? Or would it mean that you had to decrypt the key and then decrypt the data a second time?
I believe you would have to decrypt them a second time. For example if you wanted to be real secure you could have the USB device, an encrypted folder that holds important documents and files you want to back up, and inside of that could be a password database that requires a Yubikey or similar device.
I believe what you are talking about is kind of like using a combination of cascading algorithms like AES->Twofish–>Serpent.
I could be wrong though. If I am I hope someone can correct me.
So if that’s correct, then a single company breaking the IronKey isn’t, by itself, that big of a deal unless and until the knowledge bcomes fairly widely available.
Like most things, it’s important to remember what threats you’re trying to protect yourself against.
Are you trying to protect yourself against dropping a USB in a parking lot and someone picking it up? Or are you trying to protect yourself from a nation state?
Do encryption in software. History taught us hard lessons about this.
Can you think of some notable examples of hardware based encryption failing?
Besides the actual device dying I mean
Couldn’t the data be cloned and cracked off device without having to worry about the pin code?
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Overkill and overpriced. If you’re on Windows, bitlocker is enough. If you’re on Linux, LUKS is enough.
I’ve used Apricorn drives at previous jobs. They’re cool and very much fit for purpose, but I’d have a hard time justifying the significant price premium when software is nearly as good, free, and works with any drive.
Bitlocker shouldn’t be considered secure as it is a Windows only encryption that is a black box for the most part. Additionally your decryption keys are send to Microsoft
Eh, I wouldn’t trust a US company (that can be served an NSL and is obligated to install backdoors) to do your FDE.
For windows, veracrypt is safer than bitlocker
