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...real trouble with a forensics guy telling them that for 'this particular case', they need to not use the standard procedure to preserve the data unmodified, but instead to rip open the disk and muck about...

If such becomes accepted practice, I imagine the demand will go up for drives that are designed to frustrate exactly that sort of approach. I use Flagstone drives that are designed to resist such attacks.

If you really want no noticeable performance penalty (I'm talking 1% or less), you can get your full disk encryption built into the drive hardware. Select a solid-state drive and it will most likely be far faster than whatever you're using now.

Here's a good example. Note that the datasheet (which may be outdated; I think they have a higher-capacity product now.) shows that a 256 gig SSD is available. It's a pain to type in your passphrase at the pre-boot login but it's only a small pain. The peace of mind is priceless.

Whole disk encryption needs to become mainstream. There are many approaches. Here are a few useful links.

If you want your OS to encrypt everything, Fedora makes it easy. So does Ubuntu.

If you want an add-on software package, PGP works well. In a slightly more involved way, so does Truecrypt.

If you prefer a hardware solution, you can adapt regular, off-the shelf drives with an encryptor such as the Deskcrypt. Fully-encrypted hard drives are available from most vendors, too, but the ones I've found most generally useful (as in, "compatible with every other sort of hardware") are the Eclypt models from Stonewood.

I have owned and used all the products above and like them very much. If you feel different, feel free to Google things like "Momentus FDE" or "WinMagic" or "Guardian Edge Hard Drive" for other vendors and approaches. Take whatever path seems most reasonable and logical to you.

But for God's sake, would everyone please start encrypting your drives? That's not everything you need to do. It's just a minimal first step toward personal security. But it's a start.

I much prefer the diskGenie, which is also a product from istorage-uk.com, however it feels more rugged, has a very nice tactile feel. Has the same encryption level as most of the others and reqires a 6-16digit pin to access the data.I have the 500gb 256 version and a 128gb ssd both reasonably priced.

Whole disk encryption needs to become mainstream. There are many approaches. Here are a few useful links.

If you want your OS to encrypt everything, Fedora makes it easy. So does Ubuntu.

If you want an add-on software package, PGP works well. In a slightly more involved way, so does Truecrypt.

If you prefer a hardware solution, you can adapt regular, off-the shelf drives with an encryptor such as the Deskcrypt. Fully-encrypted hard drives are available from most vendors, too, but the ones I've found most generally useful (as in, "compatible with every other sort of hardware") are the Eclypt models from Stonewood.

I have owned and used all the products above and like them very much. If you feel different, feel free to Google things like "Momentus FDE" or "WinMagic" or "Guardian Edge Hard Drive" for other vendors and approaches. Take whatever path seems most reasonable and logical to you.

But for God's sake, would everyone please start encrypting your drives? That's not everything you need to do. It's just a minimal first step toward personal security. But it's a start.

Seagate has been most active in this space and the most disappointing. Seagate announced their encrypted drives a couple of years ago. Complete vaporware and required a custom BIOS, to boot. Seagate re-announced their encrypted drives about 7-8 months ago. A few of the Momentus FDE drives showed up in retail channels only to go out-of-stock/back-ordered in a matter of weeks. A month or so ago, Seagate showed their encrypted portable drives. Anybody seen one for sale? Seagate announced their encrypted SAS-connected and FC-connected server drives a couple of days ago. Availbility? Only to OEMs. I don't think even OEMs have access to the 1TB desktop disks that Seagate announced months ago and that's the model that home users and hobbyists would scarf up by the truckload if it were only available.

n-Crypt has never answered my emails.

Digisafe has a nice web site but I can't find any place to actually buy the drives.

Lots of other manufacturers, including some of the big ones, have made announcements but nothing has shown up in the retail channels. Even if you're willing to buy a new laptop to get the encrypted drives that are apparently going preferentially to OEMs, actually finding encrypted machines for sale on the web sites of the major players will have you clicking fruitlessly until your fingers cramp. Even the much simpler "bump in the wire" encryptors (e.g. from Digisafe) that are supposed to work with any IDE drive are simply non-existent in the marketplace. The whole range of products from Enova is tantalizing until you realize that you can't actually lay hands on any of it.

For years, I've used Flagstone. They're expensive and insufficiently large. But at least I can pick up the phone and order one of them and, lo and behold, actually receive it in the mail. Given the way the dollar is tanking and the size of the available drives, I'd love to have another choice. Realistically, I don't.

Call me back when I can drop an encrypted drive into my shopping cart at NewEgg. Until then, this is so much supremely frustrating vapor.

The only real question is when drive encryption becomes standard on drives.

For some of us, drive encryption has been standard for a long time.

At my job, we implement in software using Winmagic.

At home, I've used Flagstone drives for years. They're expensive (and for that reason I may soon switch to Seagate) but my peace of mind is worth a lot more.

OK, Seagate has announced (again) that they'll have full disk encryption. The last vaporware announcement went nowhere and, in the interim, I chose to use Flagstone drives when I needed full disk encryption in hardware.

Now, just maybe Seagate is going to produce a real product that I can buy. Does anyone want to take a stab at comparing/contrasting the tech used by Seagate and Stonewood? The biggest desktop Flagstone drive is 80 gigs and I'd love to have something as trustworthy in a larger size.

A buying decision is coming up again for me quite soon. This time, I hope I'll have some choice.

Frankly, I haven't a clue about getting one pre-installed. I tried to do that, but none of the computer companies whose logos appear in the Flagstone datasheets were in any way responsive to me. After searching their support knowledgebases, I came to the conclusion that laptops with pre-installed encrypted drives aren't really a product in the U.S. If you do a bunch of searching, you'll find that some laptops are available in the U.K. for use by folks in their National Health Service where data protection requirements are tough and have been for a while. That's not really an available option for us in the U.S.

Understand that if you poke around in the .mil domain, you'll find lots of requests for proposals that specify these drives. It's my impression that military and govt sales pretty much keep them busy and they aren't very interested in selling single drives to individuals. I got mine for testing for a major government agency using my own funds. I was trying to do an end-run around our usual testing procedures and be viewed as the "encrypted hardware golden boy" in my org for a particular project. It didn't work out and I wound up with a nice piece of hardware in my personal collection.

Before I get started, please keep in mind that my experience is over a year old. YMMV and I hope things go much better for you.

Flagstone has two North American distributors who sell bare drives. I'm not even going to mention their names. As of a year ago (or a little more) when I bought mine, the Canadian distributor couldn't find its butt with both hands, couldn't answer email timely or appropriately, and was a complete turnoff to me. The U.S. distributor never would get down to brass tacks. They wanted to talk about sales, do demos, and other high-level stuff that they should have realized wasn't appropriate after the first contact. I just wanted to know "What do you have in stock?", "How much does it cost?", and "Where do I send the check?" They never could get around to just taking an order.

The French distributor isn't interested in doing business outside of France. There is one vendor in England who has what we expect: an online storefront where you just add the item to a cart and proceed to checkout. At that point, distressingly, they want to email you and set up a "relationship". Nobody just wants to take your money and send you a drive.

Except for the U.K. reseller I talked to (who seemed genuinely interested in helping me once he understood my needs) the entire business, post-manufacturer, seems to be set up by people still stuck in the bad old reseller days where nothing got bought without going out for drinks with a sales rep. Bleh.

Thankfully, there is an out. Go to the website contact page and fill it out. Specify that you wish to place a direct order with them (not one of their resellers) for a drive and ask for a current price list for their Corporate/Freedom drives. They'll take your information, make up a drive for you, and send it promptly upon receipt of payment. Their distribution chain, in my (admittedly outdated) experience may be clueless and frustrating, but the home office has been superbly competent and professional in every way.

Before you do all that, though, understand that you'll be spending about 10 times the retail price of a similar-capacity drive to get a Flagstone. If you're not willing to do that (in fact, if you're not willing to place an immediate order), don't bother them. This isn't a business that is geared to individuals and they *really* don't need our business.

You asked about the difference between drives. The Corporate and Freedom (usb) drives employ 128-bit encryption and are sold to businesses and individuals. The bit count goes up for the baseline and enhanced products. Full information and certifications data is clearly presented in the datasheets that can be downloaded from their web site. Most of that information is pr

Elsewhere in this thread, it's pointed out that you shouldn't have to be an expert in crash testing to be able to buy a car that's safe. I tend to agree. While I see your point about PHBs and throwing money at problems, I've also reached the stage in life where I have (some) money and little enough time to futz around with doing everything from scratch. When I was a kid, I personally, carefully, expertly assembled every round of ammunition I shot; nowadays I'm likely to grab a box off 9's at the sporting goods store and go have some fun. So what about the instant case?

I have the same attitude about crypto. I recognize I need an encrypted USB device but I also have a life. So I studied a bit, enough to make an informed decision, and bought one of these.

Does that mark me as totally clueless?

Current hardware disk encryptors are generally a little bulky for laptops,

Really? I didn't realize that.

I've been using hardware encryption for quite a while. There are nice, as-near-as-I-can-tell-unbreakable products to be found here. They make good drives. While the North American distributors aren't super-duper when it comes to dealing with small orders, if you want a hundred or more just contact the home office. The people there have been a professional pleasure to deal with. And if you need convincing as to the viability of their products, poke around for RFPs in the .mil domain and elsewhere. When you see the U.S. Navy putting up requests for multiples of these drives, you get the idea they're pretty darn good pieces of kit.

Given that a relatively small (IMO) drive from these guys costs more than most computers, I doubt slashdotters will be stampeding in their direction. Still, it's nice to know the hardware is out there if you need it.

Try this: http://www.stonewood.co.uk/FlagStone_Security.aspx ?navid=201