Commercial SSD solution with military-grade protection to classified data at rest released by CDSG
NewsJuly 09, 2021
VANCOUVER, Washington. CRU Data Security Group (CDSG) released the DIGISTOR Citadel family of secure self-encrypting SSDs aimed at military and government applications requiring NSA Data at Rest security protection up to the U.S. government’s secret classification level.
As the solutions are commercial-based they are offered at commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) pricing.
“With President Biden’s executive order to improve the country’s cybersecurity and protect government networks, Federal agencies are racing to create and deploy reliable DAR security solutions,” says CDSG President and CEO Randal Barber. “Our easily-integrated DIGISTOR Citadel SSDs deliver hardware-speed encryption and security technology needed to achieve one of the highest security classifications at COTS prices, ensuring that government agencies can meet the mandate quickly, effectively, and more affordably than legacy solutions."
The new SSDs, powered by CipherDrive, deliver a security layer to encrypt and protect data at rest (DAR) in a low-cost, easily deployed form factor.
The proliferation of sensor and IoT data, cross-domain computing, and information aggregation in the Department of Defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure communities, are driving a rapid increase in cyberattacks, CDSG officials say.
Citadel SSDs, based on SSDs certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 2 and Common Criteria (certification pending), are available in standard M.2 and 2.5-inch form factors, as well as SATA and NVMe interfaces, for commonly used laptops, desktops, and tactical servers.
The Citadel self-encrypting SSDs contain pre-boot authentication, which requires that an authorized user unlock the SSD with a password or smart card before the computer can see the drive or boot up. Citadel’s authorization acquisition (AA) and encryption engine (EE) capabilities make Citadel SSDs ideal for a National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) application to secure information up to the U.S. government’s secret classification level, company official say.
The multi-factor authentication is an important feature for battlefield operations. If a laptop with the SSD were to be lost, the worst case is that it would be a dead laptop because unless you authenticated the SSD it essentially does not exist, CDSG officials say.
CDSG announced that Trenton Systems will offer Citadel SSDs in its next and future generations of rugged servers, workstations, embedded systems, storage systems, and other products for the government market.
“Our military and government customers are clamoring for cost-effective DAR security solutions,” says Michael Bowling, CEO of Trenton Systems. “The new Citadel SSDs will be an essential addition to our forward-deployed servers and systems for aerospace and defense programs and applications operating in harsh environments globally.”
Citadel SSDs expand the DIGISTOR secure SSD product family, which includes FIPS-certified SSDs and TCG Opal-compliant SSDs. These TAA-compliant SSDs provide a range of options to meet requirements of agencies that may not need the rigorous DAR security of Citadel.
For more information visit digistor.com/citadel.
