SiForce Lockbox Rugged Encrypted Keypad Drive USB 3.0 (1TB HDD)

I purchased this device, in order to maintain encrypted archives of my scanned documents, photos, and other important information. I specifically chose the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) variant over the Solid State Drive (SSD) option to avoid issues with “data rot.” I also chose the 1TB drive over the 2TB drive, because the higher RPM translates into a faster access speed. The physical dimensions of the device, including the plastic box it comes in, will comfortably fit inside the smallest “standard size” safe deposit box used by most US banks.When your drive arrives, you’ll notice a “Forensically Sanitized” sticker on the box (first picture). This does not mean you were sold a used drive that has been wiped. Per Vincent and Ryan at Silicon Forensics; some of their commercial customers require that shipped drives be sanitized, using the DoD 5220.22-M “sanitization method.” However, it’s important to note that DoD 5220.22-M is actually the NISPOM (National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual), which leaves the precise sanitization method used to the discretion of the CSA (Cognizant Security Agency); that oversees each particular program, contractually subject to NISPOM requirements. Usually, the CSA issues a “guidance letter” that specifies the precise method to be used. Because most CSA are DoD agencies, there is a lot of guidance letter copying that goes on; so the majority of approved methods consist of 3 verified (write & read) passes of either 0xFF or 0xAA, its compliment, and a random character.The housing for the Lockbox Rugged consists of a 3 piece metal and plastic clamshell, surrounded by a silicon “bumper” (second picture). The bumper provides excellent protection against everyday shocks, but is somewhat of a dust magnet. If you intend to use the drive in a clean room environment, you may have to remove the bumper. The chiclet-style keypad has a positive feel to it, and makes a satisfying mechanical click, when you press any of the keys. Heat dissipation is passive and even after 5 hours of continuously accessing the drive, the housing is not uncomfortably hot; just “very warm.”The drive connects to your computer via a USB “Y” cable. The USB 3.x Micro-B connector plugs into the drive and the “blue” USB A-Type connector plugs into your computer. The “white” USB A-Type connector DOES NOT CARRY DATA and is only required if you are connecting the drive to a USB 2.x port. *****THIS IS IMPORTANT***** – USB 3.x ports provide up to 900ma of power… USB 2.x ports only provide up to 500ma of power (each). *****DO NOT***** try to “get clever,” by plugging the white connector into a phone charger… you’ll create floating ground issues, between the drive and the computer.The Lockbox has 4 colored LED indicators, located above the keypad (third picture). Although the enclosed user manual is comprehensive and easy to follow; it refers to each indicator by its color, and there are no references to any of the indicator icons printed above the indicators. This means the only way to tell which indicator is being referred to, is to power up the drive.The drive comes pre-formatted as a single NTFS partition, but it can also be formatted for exFAT as described in the user manual; for Apple compatibility. But since encryption is handled at the drive (hardware) interface level, you can have many partitions, each formatted differently (HFS+, APFS, Linux, et al); so long as you don’t mess with the drive’s MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table). Because the hashed encryption key is stored in the MBR/GPT, corruption of the MBR/GPT means you will lose access to all encrypted data, across all partitions.The encryption PIN can be from 4 to 32 digits in length. The default PIN is “1” and you are not forced to change it. Once you change the default PIN, you can never go back to it; even if you reinitialize (hard reset) the drive. After 100 consecutive bad PIN attempts, the drive will corrupt the hashed encryption key, and you must reinitialize the drive. Ryan at Silicon Forensics, confirms the “bad PIN count” is maintained in volatile memory, and resets if the drive’s power is cycled. It would be nice if the bad PIN count limit was programmable, so as to create an element of surprise, for anyone trying to brute force the PIN.Which brings us to an interesting question: Because Silicon Forensics mostly sells products to customers with Law Enforcement interests, how difficult is it to brute force the drive? Let’s suppose they can provide a replacement drive interface with something that eliminates the bad PIN count, and allows direct PIN entry from another computer. Given the observable processing speed of the drive electronics, it would still take 6.34e23 years to sequence through all possible PIN. You’d have to image the drive to a supercomputer, in order to get a faster result. Which means you’d have to have done something “really bad” for anyone to go through that much trouble. But… if you are really “that paranoid,” you can always double encrypt your data; by creating a VeraCrypt or TrueCrypt volume within an unformatted partition.

While the manual makes it sound like the set-up and use of this device should be fairly simple and straight forward, it is not. I was able to successfully enter a 22 character password and the device does recognize it. The issue is that once it is connected and unlocked it is not recognized by the computer (although the very first time it was). After repeated attempts of connecting to different USB ports and unlocking the device, it is not connecting. I will follow up with a revision to this review if i can get it working, but for now it looks like it needs to be returned. I have the 1Tb SiForce AES256u3 model.9/30/19 Update: So, it seems that when the unit was connected via USB-2, the connection was sporadic. I connected the unit to the back of my computer where i have USB-3 and it worked just fine. The manufacture website has no trouble-shooting assistance and a simple 2 page manual. I would suggest just using USB-3 and if you only have USB-2 understand that the unit might not work as advertised. Upgrading to 4 Stars.

After only 3 months it will NOT power on. The usb port separated from the board so power wasn't getting to the hard drive. I contacted the seller yesterday and today they shipped out a replacement for FREE. I will update my review once the replacement part arrives and see if it solves my issues. Before it stopped working I really liked this product. The ONLY issue I had with it, other than it breaking, was that if you don't access files after a while...maybe 10-15 minutes the device automatically shuts down so, you'll have to unplug the usb and plug it back in then wait for your files to reload. Not sure why this has been programmed in. I can understand if it shuts down after 30 minutes to an hour of no use, but 10 minutes is ridiculous.

I like this USB drive keypad drive. It's secure. I work from home and need to keep things secure. It locks when I unplug or turn off my computer. The drive doesn't even show up until I put in the pin.It's fast so even my larger files upload fast.The casing is metal and the edges are silicone. The buttons are sturdy and easy to enter pin.Great product overall. I would recommend.

this is the biggest piece of crap I'd ever bought you can't access it all it does is blink won't buy again 2nd that doesn't work