Fujitsu's New HDD Security Technology Supports Opal SSC Standards

February 13, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS

The TCG Opal SSC specification was adopted as an international standard with the aim of creating more secure IT environments. When used in combination with supporting application software, HDDs that support Opal SSC enable security tools for a range of computing platforms, including notebook PCs.

TCG standardized the Opal SSC specification for advanced security tools in computing environments. Fujitsu led the formulation of the standard and subsequently developed technology for Opal-based 2.5-inch HDDs with encryption features.

The newly developed HDD security technology, when used in combination with application software supporting Opal SSC, will enable advanced security features such as preboot authentication and secure partition, Fujitsu said.

Preboot authentication performs user authentication when the computer is started up. Using an HDD that supports the Opal SSC standard allows for the use of advanced authentication techniques, such as biometric authentication or smart-card authentication, even before starting up Windows or other operating systems.

Experts said this makes it possible to build an environment more secure than existing ones, which rely on password input via keyboard.

Secure partition is a technology enabling the HDD's storage to be partitioned into a number of secure storage regions. Each partition can be protected under its own encryption key, giving access to only the valid owner of partition and users given access by the owner.

For example, this allows for content and its licensing data to be stored and protected in separate partitions so that different partitions can be used depending on the nature of the data stored.

Fujitsu said it is working with independent software vendors to implement these functions.

Source: Fujitsu.