Digistor added to its innovative line of secure, self-encrypting drives (SEDs) with pre-boot authentication by introducing pre-boot authentication (PBA) to its Citadel C Series lineup, powered by Cigent.

In addition, the Citadel C Series Advanced version has been listed by NIST as a FIPS 140-2 L2 certified storage device. This certification is an additional assurance that C Series Advanced SEDs have been tested and validated by the U.S. government to meet its strict security requirements.

The SEDs are ideal for developing secure data at rest (DAR) storage solutions in commercial and other government applications where protecting critical information against ransomware and other cyber threats is vital. PBA requires that a user provide trusted credentials to the drive before the laptop or desktop computer can detect and boot. This prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to the encrypted drive and its sensitive data.

"To safeguard data, robust cybersecurity features, like PBA, are needed in security-conscious industries, like financial services, health care, and critical infrastructure such as power grids and water supplies, the defense sector, and government agencies," said Randal Barber, CDSG president and CEO. "The Citadel C Series makes PBA affordable for the wide range of applications that do not demand the stringent certification requirements seen with some military and government customers."

Citadel C Series drives offer additional cybersecurity functions, such as multifactor authentication (MFA), zero-trust file access, unreadable storage partitions protected by non-recoverable keys, automated threat response that renders data invisible if Cigent Data Defense is disabled, and secure access logs that capture all insider threat activity.

Citadel C Series SSDs are built on Digistor TCG Opal or FIPS 140-2 L2/Common Criteria self-encrypting drives. The new drives are available in standard M.2 NVMe and SATA form factors and 2.5-inch SATA form factors for commonly used laptops, desktops, and tactical servers. 

These new drives with PBA are part of the extended Citadel family, including the Citadel K Series SSDs, powered by CipherDrive and its CSfC-listed PBA (EE), which have been adopted widely with military and government agencies.