Viasat U.K. Ltd., a subsidiary of global communications company, Viasat Inc., (NASDAQ: VSAT), has announced that the firm’s U.K. designed and manufactured nexgen, data-at-rest, cryptography solid state drive (SSD), DARC-ssd™ 600, has been fully evaluated for the protection of data up to Top Secret classification by the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) — data-at-rest technology secures government devices that are stolen, lost or attacked, protecting U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) and other sensitive government data.
The U.K. NCSC completed its CAPS evaluation of the Viasat DARC-ssd™ 600 for the protection of data at rest up to Top Secret classification, making it the only hardware encrypted SSD using the industry-standard interface and form factor to attain this status. The DARC-ssd solution is now the only encryption device using a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) interface and small form factor (M.2) that can be used for Top Secret and below data, creating a highly secure and flexible encryption solution for government customers.
DARC-ssd™ 600 is designed to deliver significantly improved performance compared to existing data at rest solutions, while ensuring the highest levels of protection for military and government users. By using the industry standard NVMe interface and common form factor M.2 2280, the DARC-ssd™ 600 allows customers to upgrade older hardware and integrate nexgen encryption with the latest commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and tactical military devices – laptops, desktops, tablets, servers, and network-attached storage.
In addition, DARC-ssd™ is designed to offer quicker loading times and lower power consumption, as well as a covert and seamless user experience making it a highly effective data security solution for defense customers that is available in capacities ranging from 256GB, 512GB and 1 terabyte (TB).
The DARC-ssd 600™ uses Viasat’s integrated, military level, 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware with full drive hardware encryption for all data and the operating system. Data is decrypted upon bootup of the device with mandatory two-factor authentication and then encrypted immediately when the device is powered off. Unlike software encryption managed by the operating system, this hardware encryption approach limits the impact on overall device performance and manages secure authentication and encryption within the hardware container itself, which decreases the opportunity for tampering.
“Keeping data secure in an age when data breaches can cause serious long-term repercussions is critical. As a longtime provider of information assurance solutions to the U.K. government, we’ve seen the evolution of encryption technology and the growing challenge to ensure Top Secret and other sensitive data for government users on their devices is as secure as possible. The DARC-ssd 600™ continues Viasat’s decades-long tradition of hardware encryption solutions offering the highest possible level of accreditation to the U.K. armed forces and wider government. We’re excited to continue working with our partners and direct U.K. government customers to provide advanced data-at-rest capability to protect valuable U.K. government and military data and enable secure integration with the latest commercial and military devices.” — Hisham Awad, Managing Director, Viasat U.K.