3. Before Installing Your SAFE Drive
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LaCie SAFE Mobile Hard Drive with encryption
User’s Manual
3.4. Rules for Registering Users
The LaCie SAFE drive can save up to 10 fingerprints. Since each registered user must register at least two fingerprints, the
drive can accommodate a maximum of five users.
For more on registering users, see section 5. Setting Up Your LaCie SAFE Drive.
3.5. About Encryption Levels
Your LaCie SAFE drive offers two possible encryption levels: DES or Triple DES.
What is encryption?
Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. Encryption is the conversion of data into a kind of text code,
which cannot be understood by unauthorized users. Unencrypted data is called plain text. Encrypted data refers to cipher
text. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be read by authorized users.
What is the key?
In order to easily recover the contents of a encrypted text, a correct decryption key is required. The key is an algorithm that
“undoes” the work of the encryption algorithm. The more complex the encryption algorithm, the more difficult it becomes to
eavesdrop on the communications without access to the key.
Why should data be encrypted?
Cryptography is used whenever someone wants to send a secret message to someone else in a situation where anyone might
be able to get hold of the message and read it. The use of encryption/decryption is as old as the art of communication.
In wartime, a cipher, often incorrectly called a “code,” can be employed to keep the enemy from obtaining the contents of
transmissions. Simple ciphers include the substitution of letters for numbers, the rotation of letters in the alphabet, and the
“scrambling” of voice signals by inverting the sideband frequencies. More complex ciphers work according to sophisticated
computer algorithms that rearrange the data bits in digital signals.
Nevertheless, encryption is an efficient solution when carrying out any kind of sensitive transaction, such as a credit-card
purchase online, or the discussion of a company secret between different departments in the organization.
How does the SAFE drive encrypt data?
SAFE encrypts data through hardware and not a software solution. The encryption algorithms used are DES and Triple DES.
Encryption and decryption are transparent for the users. In contrast to software solutions, where the main PC resources
are used for the encryption, our microprocessor is dedicated to encryption, the data transfer speed is not altered and the
encryption is optimized. To add more security, the algorithm key is stored in the buffer.
