In the era of cloud services, we use portable drives less and less, but in exchange for convenience, we compromise on security, since cloud-based solutions can offer cybercriminals an attack opportunity. Today, data is the greatest asset, and its loss or falling into unauthorized hands can cause serious headaches for individuals and companies alike. That’s why Kingston came up with the IronKey Vault Privacy 80 external SSD, which provides military-level security solutions in addition to mobility, but in return, you have to put up with below-average performance and a horrible price tag.
Known for its memory and drives, Kingston acquired IronKey in 2016, the company best known for supplying encryption solutions to the US government and military. After the acquisition, Kingston began to market its drives with hardware encryption under the brand name IronKey, the latest model of which is the IronKey Vault Privacy 80 (VP80ES for short), which is currently available for interested parties with a capacity of 480, 920 and 1920 GB.
Secret agent feeling
The 480 GB was our guest, and the device itself is a particularly attractive piece. 8.4 cm wide, 1.8 cm thick, and 12.2 cm long, with a light blue metal casing, with a touch screen in the middle. You can find a similar stylish handset at an affordable OPPO phone price in Pakistan. The latter is necessary to access the data stored on the drive after entering the password, and it is also used to make various settings. While using it, everyone can feel a bit like James Bond or Ethan Hunt (without the self-destruct function), although the high-tech feeling is a bit impaired by the fact that the display sometimes has to be poked hard to detect your finger, which seems quite old-fashioned in the age of smartphones.
After successful unlocking, the SSD works in the same way as any drive, so files can be moved using the drag & drop method (with any operating system), which is protected by FIPS 197 security-certified 256-bit XTS-AES encryption from unauthorized users. The VP80ES is not only more secure than an average SSD because you have to enter the password on the hardware itself to access the data, but the hardware encryption also provides built-in protection against BadUSB and Brute Force attacks. Among the settings, you can also find an option that can be used to randomize the layout of the buttons that appear on the touch screen, so it is not possible to narrow down the characters of your password even with the help of fingerprints left on the display. But as far as the cost is concerned it’ll is available at retail similar to the Infinix phone price.
In addition, you can enter administrator and user passwords, select PIN or passphrase mode, maximize the number of password attempts, set the minimum password length (between 6-64 characters), set alphanumeric password rules, or even change the automatic time limit that closes the drive. The administrator password can be used to restore data and access in case of a forgotten code, and the crypto-erase function deletes data if someone enters the wrong user or administrator password 15 times in a row on the touch screen.
Not the fastest
Data protection is therefore ensured, but in return, a compromise must be made in terms of speed. On the cover of the VP80ES, we find a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector (and a USB-C/USB-C and a USB-C/USB-A cable are included in the package), and Kingston also communicates that this is not its fastest SSD, because both writing and reading are 250 MB/s maximum.
At first glance, this does not sound so bad, but at the same time, it must be noted that the maximum does not mean that the drive “moves” the data at such a speed. Although the SSD is indeed capable of this, based on our measurements, it happened that the result dropped to 40 MB/s, so it must be taken into account that the performance of this solution falls short of most competitors in the case of many large files. And this is especially painful because, even in the case of the 480 GB version, roughly HUF 150,000 must be paid for such an IronKey device.
The package also includes a neoprene bag, into which the drive can be neatly slipped, something that is also provided by Samsung. This greatly narrows the range of users: the VP80ES can be a good choice primarily for those who want the highest possible security available for such devices, do not want to hear about the cloud, but do not want to give up easy portability. If someone is looking for an SSD for average use, speed is important, and protection is a secondary consideration, they will not find their calculations here.
