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How Safe Are Today’s Encryption Protection Techniques?

An Important Fact Regarding Encryption Protection

It has been recently discovered that the long-entrusted encryption tools may no longer protect confidential data against hackers. So, beware if your computer or laptop has been stolen. Even a gust of cold air could be enough to crack your PC’s encrypted hard drive.

Princeton University scientists have explored the fact that safety and security of company trade secrets, national security documents and personal banking data cannot be guaranteed as long as any hackers are physically able to access the computers. For that matter, confidential and vital information can also be stolen from the laptops and computers that are sent for repairs.

If the RAM (Random Access Memory) chip of a computer is cooled down to minus fifty degrees Celsius, it is able to retain data for quite some time after the machine has lost power. The cooling process can be carried out by spraying a multipurpose duster spray straight onto the memory chip using an upside-down canister.

The keys for unlocking the encryption can be obtained from the data retained in the memory chip. During this critical period, hackers are able to steal data before it gets purged. This is done by rebooting the system with a program that copies the contents. If a computer was left in sleep or hibernation mode when it was stolen, the risk of data being hacked is comparatively higher.

Even a moderately-skilled hacker has ability to bypass renowned encryption tools like FileVault, BitLocker, dm-crypt and TrueCrypt.

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RCG Personal PC Data Protection Key

Digital technology has changed every aspect of our lives – right from when we wake up to when we go to sleep. Particularly, in the aspect of data storage, we are faced with increasingly minute and higher capacity memory units. However, with the increase in technology there is also the flip side – digital theft. It is to tackle this need of preventing digital theft that the RCG X-key has come in to the market.

Digital theft is fast becoming a cause of concern, as simple and swift transfers of files from one drive to another can compromise the security of an entire nation. In fact, in a recent instance, members of the French cabinet were told to stop using BlackBerries for fear of the US intercepting state secrets. Hence, safeguarding sensitive and confidential information is both vital and necessary.

How does RCG X-key protect your data? This security tool, about the size of a standard pen drive, offers multi-level protection with the unique PC lock feature, and the X-key protects access to your PC or notebook just by plugging it in your USB port.

The RCG X-Key also provides file-level privacy protection that allows you to hide your files/folders swiftly and smoothly by simply plugging / unplugging the key. You can also run the hidden files / folders in a specially designed “stealth” mode. In stealth mode, only the X-key will be able to reveal your hidden files with a pre-set “hotkey” when the key is not plugged in.

RCG X-key can be used for both business and personal use – whenever there is a need for protection of your data from unauthorized use.

[ Visit RCG X-Key Site ]

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What is Fiber Channel RAID?

Any work done on computers needs to be stored, which means as we have discussed- data storage is an important aspect of having computers. There are many options available like using disks, HDDs.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks.

There are loads of storage devices, so, What makes RAID different from all those storage devices?
Total Disk Drive Failure caused due to electrostatic discharge or moisture will damage the disk.This is the pre-eminent failure mode that RAID protects against.

The loss of data can be prevented by using RAID.

Lets first get to know about Fiber Channel:

In our world where everyone wants everything to happen in a flash of a second, there is no time to waste. Data transfer can be, a time consuming process at times. Here comes the need to have high speed data links to transfer data faster. Fiber Channel (FC) was introduced and developed for practical,inexpensive purposes and this can transfer data quickly between workstations,mainframes, supercomputers, storage devices and other peripherals.

Fibre Channels operate at a wide variety of speeds ie, 133 Mbit/s, 266 Mbit/s, 530 Mbit/s, and 1 Gbits/s and on three types of both electrical and optical media.

According to the combination of speed and media the transmission distances vary.

Fiber Channel RAID(Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) supports multiple protocol disk interfaces.

It can manage many kinds of disk storage devices with different physical interfaces in the same time and different kinds of disks can also be bound in one logical RAID group.

Fiber Channel RAID storage solutions ensures that there is no failure and therefore protects the data i.e it offers true no single-point-of-failure data protection.

These solutions are SAN(Storage Area Network) ready so you can connect directly to your server using a  Fiber Channel HBA or purchase a fabric switch and start building  your own SAN.

The two main factors which is involved is increased data reliability and increased I/O performance. RAID technology is said to be in RAID array which means that the array distributes data across several disks but is seen as one single disk by the user.

RAID controller retrieve data from the array by using specific RAID levels. These levels 0, 1, and 5 are the most commonly found, and cover most requirements.

RAID 0 (striped disks)
It distributes data across several disks but all the data will be lost on all disks if any one disk fails.

RAID 1 (mirrored disks)
It uses two or more disks which stores the same data so that when one fails the other disks data is always available. Total capacity of the array is just the capacity of a single disk.

RAID 5 (striped disks with parity)
It combines three or more disks that protects data against loss of any one disk. The storage capacity of the array is reduced by one disk. The less common-
RAID 6 can recover from the loss of two disks.

With these many advantages with RAID technology, those looking for faster and efficient transfer of data will undoubtedly opt to use the RAID technology.