Stonewood Electronics has launched a range of encrypted hard drives aimed at general business users. The drives are designed to protect against data loss in the event of a system being stolen or a laptop misplaced.

The firm's Eclypt range, available immediately, consists of Eclypt Corporate, a direct replacement for a PC or laptop hard drive; and Eclypt Freedom, a portable external drive with a USB connection. Both secure the entire disk content using 256-bit AES encryption and store the key within the drive electronics, so it cannot be uncovered through an attack on the computer's operating system. Both also ship in a tamper-proof enclosure.

Stonewood already supplies government departments with encrypted drives, but the Eclypt range is aimed at a broader market, according to marketing director Grant Gutteridge.

"In light of recent data losses, there is a growing need in both public and private sector to protect information," he said. The firm's existing FlagStone products are single-user only while Eclypt is much more flexible and designed to support scenarios such as a pool of laptops being available for employees travelling on business, Gutteridge added.

But while FlagStone is fully accredited by the UK government's CESG information assurance agency, Eclypt is only in the early stages of the accreditation process, Gutteridge said.

Eclypt Corporate simply replaces a standard hard drive in new systems or can be retro-fitted to existing kit. It is available in 60Gb and 120GB capacities with ATA and Serial ATA interfaces, while Eclypt Freedom is only available as a 120GB unit.

Fujitsu last month unveiled its own encrypted drives, the first available in capacities up to 320GB, it claimed. The MHZ2-CJ series also stores the key internally and uses 256-bit AES encryption.