iStorage diskAshur2 1TB SSD

I’ve reviewed a number of iStorage’s data storage products over my time and they never fail to impress. As far as storing sensitive and/or confidential information goes, you can’t go too far wrong in all honesty.

This version holds all the same features as most of their products: the PIN to access anything at all on this drive is 7-15 digits long and the 15 attempts to access is still a feature (I really like the way they do this too – breaking it down to groups of 5 attempts that each introduce further measures so it’s not just a matter of guessing 15 times and bludgeoning your way through), after which the data is truly un-recoverable and you’ll need to factory re-set to make use of the device again. The internal components are still set in epoxy-resin to prevent physical access and the actual outer casing is tough with an IP56 rating as well as the keys on the keypad being coated in a polymer that prevents wear and tear that could give away the PIN number with regular use in other circumstances.

It’s compatible with all major operating systems and doesn’t need any external software to run. It connects via USB 3.1 and automatically encrypts any documents you store on there as soon as you do, using the AES-XTS 256-bit encryption engine that encodes your files with FIPS validated wrapping algorithms and random numbers. The speed is good at 148 MB/s for reading and 140 MB/s for writing, allowing you to rapidly store or extract decently sized files. Speaking of which, this drive has 1 TB of storage space which is more than enough if looking at Office type files with plenty of storage space for media files and presentations on top for example.

The icing on the cake for this model is the price however. Previous storage devices from iStorage have easily pushed double the cost of this and even more. So it’s nice to see a realistically affordable, very secure storage device for us people that just want to look after our own privacy and what’s more its available in four lovely colours fiery red, ocean blue, phantom black and racing green. RRP from £129

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