News

posted on 21 April 2008 14:17

French computer systems and services company Bull is offering Globull, an external USB hard drive with an on-board encryption processor and a capability to store a bootable Windows environment.

Like the Stealth MXP  it can be used as a boot device for a host Windows PC and enable the user to work within their familiar Windows environment. Unlike that device it stores 60GB of data, not a mere 8GB; but it has no fingerprint reader.

When a host PC is used the user session details disappear once the machine is shut down and the Globull unplugged.

The bright red Globull, iPOD-sized, has a touch-sensitive screen on which the user enters a password before gaining access to the AES 256-bit encrypted data inside the device.

It weighs 120gm, is only available in France - the Globull is not global - and costs the equivalent of $685. You can have Mandriva Linux server virtualisation added for another $125. This will insulate the now virtualised Windows environment from any hardware dependencies on the host.

A 120GB version is forecast by the end of the year with a finger print reader being added potentially next year.

It surely cannot be long before Seagate releases an equivalent product through its Maxtor subsidiary; it already supplies FDE (full disk encryption) drives and needs to build up its retail revenues according to CEO Bill Watkins.

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}