More and more of us are looking for ways to store our data securely away from our computer’s built-in hard drive. It could be because we are using a shared computer and don’t want others to access it or it could be a fear of viruses, which are both valid concerns. That is where an iStorage diskAshur2 comes in because it is a perfect means of storing files and data in a secure way.
The diskAshur2 is essentially just a portable drive that is operated with a PIN, or even several PINs if you have others you trust with your valuable information. It features military grad hardware encryption and is ultra-secure and easy to use. It is compatible with any operating system and no software is required to get it going.
The diskAshur2 connects to your laptop with a fast USB 3.1 connection. Simply plug it in and follow the instructions on the enclosed pamphlet to get going. I can’t stress enough how important it is that you follow the instructions and don’t start playing around with the PIN without knowing what you’re doing! I missed a step in the instructions and the device went into brute force mode, which is easily remedied but takes a bit of reading to fix.
The first thing you do is set up an admin PIN. There are six steps listed including how to access the device with the pre-set PIN and then how to change the PIN to one of your choice. The next thing you can do is set up a new user PIN in addition to the admin PIN. Unlocking the device is easy and takes only two steps.
The diskAshur2 comes in four colours, red, green, blue and black. When it arrives, it comes in a sturdy black case. It’s quite compact and the buttons are smooth but take a firm press to operate. It would be difficult to accidentally press the wrong button on this. There are three lights above the buttons which are used to communicate the status of the locking, unlocking or PIN setting. The USB cable folds down inside the side of the hard drive. The case has a fabric strap attached.
Once you’ve got the hang of locking and unlocking, and remember the combination of steps to take to operate this, it’s super easy to use. It comes with a PDF manual pre-installed into the drive too, so if you want to read more about the device, it’s easy to do so.
The great thing about this device is how easy it is to add and remove data from it. It’s as easy as copy and paste. It’s essentially a USB stick but on a bigger, more secure and sophisticated scale.
Personally I think this is something I would love to own. The price of £159 is reasonable, considering it can hold a terabyte of data but for now, it’s still out of my price range and I couldn’t justify it since I only hold copies of blogs and e-books I’ve written that are already in the public domain on my memory sticks. However, for anyone who has classified information to store, this is going to be an excellent investment. I can see it being really popular with businesses such as accountants, solicitors and healthcare professionals.
To read more about the diskAshur2 and other iStorage items, please visit their website.