CS Oct 2021

product review
REDKEY USB
With all the focus on cybercriminals
and internet attacks,
it's easy to forget that data
breaches can easily occur, if businesses
fail to remove confidential data when
discarding or selling on their old
computers. It's more environmentally
friendly to recycle. rather than destroy
them. but simply formatting a drive or
deleting the data residing on it is not
enough. as they must be securely erased
to ensure it cannot be recovered.
There are plenty of free disk wipe
utilities available, but few provide
any certification of data removal for
auditing purposes and regulatory
compliance. Redkey USB looks the ideal
solution, as this unassuming memory
stick is loaded with military-grade tools
for securely erasing SATA HDDs and
SSDs, plus USB, NVMe, M.2, PCIe and
eMMC storage devices.
Some commercial erasure utilities
enforce pay-per-drive licensing, but
RedKey USB can be used as many times
as you want. A single payment allows
you to use the device an unlimited
number of times on any number of
Windows or Mac computers, and it
includes perpetual online updates
and support.
Three editions are available and we
review the Ultimate version, which
enables every feature the company
has to offer. All three editions deliver
certified secure erase technology, plus
25 defence wipe standards with an
Ultimate license, enabling editable
reports with field pre-fill options and
automated scripting, so the device runs
a custom sequence of events when
a computer is booted from it.
Security starts before you've even
received the product, as it is sent via
tracked delivery, with the Redkey USB
supplied in a tough tamper-proof
package. It arrives blank and is prepared
using the Redkey USB Updater utility -
a portable executable that must be run
on a Windows system with internet
access.
Activation is simple, as you insert
the device and enter the 20-digit
authorisation code hidden under
a scratch panel inside the package.
Once the code is verified, you can leave
the utility to download all required
files and prepare the Redkey USB as
a bootable device.
At this point, you can use the default
automated erase settings or customise
them from the utility, while scripting for
the Ultimate edition uses a text file
on the device that can be modified to
define specific wipe sequences. You
can, for example, set priorities for
erase functions, create a sequence of
events, including automatic computer
shutdown on wipe completion, and
enable auto-saving for erasure reports.
To test the Redkey USB, we left it on
its default settings, inserted it in a Dell
Precision Windows 10 Pro workstation
and selected its UEFI one-time boot
option. On first contact, you can choose
the default GUI or swap to a text-based
version, if the former isn't supported.
Countdown timers and audio assistance
are provided throughout and, if
you do nothing, it will start the erase
process on discovered storage devices
after one minute. Our test system had
a 3TB WD Red SATA HDD, which the
Redkey USB automatically 'unfroze' to
allow the SATA secure erase command
to be used, and then took seven hours
to complete the full wipe process,
accompanied by screensavers and
music.
A detailed PDF report is generated on
completion, which can be manually
edited with information such as where
a backup has been stored and who
conducted the erase. This can then
be saved directly to the Redkey USB
or another removable device.
The Redkey USB is an elegant and
affordable solution for professionals
and businesses that want certified,
standards-based disk erasure services,
with lifetime support. If you need to
know without any doubt that your data
is gone for good, you need Redkey USB.
Product: Redkey USB
Supplier: Redkey USB Ltd
Web site: www.redkeyusb.com
Sales: contact@redkeyusb.com
Price: Home, £19.95, Professional,
£39.95, Ultimate, £59.95
www.computingsecurity.co.uk @CSMagAndAwards October 2021 computing security
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