Definition November 2020 - Web

USER REVI EW | G -TECHNOLOGY ARMORLOCK

G-TECHNOLOGY ARMORLOCK PR I CE £559 , 99 / $599 . 99 G-Technology’s password-less drive employs biometric security to keep rushes secure

WORDS ADAM GARSTONE

producing and directing ‘by remote control’. The rushes can no longer be flown back in the production’s luggage; they must be entrusted to couriers and, very occasionally, deliveries do go astray. Securing a production’s rushes has become important throughout our industry, and G-Technology has an interesting new product to help. The Armorlock Encrypted NVMe SSD is the first of a fleet of new devices from companies owned by Western Digital (G-Technology, SanDisk and, of course, WD). It’s a 2TB external SSD with a USB-C interface, suitable for Mac or

ABOVE Armorlock helps store and move rushes securely between remote workers

ay back in 2016, when we interviewed Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey – editors of Star

Windows. The drive is encrypted by default – there is no option to disable it – but, unlike software encryption, there is no loss of performance. Drives are managed through software on your computer or iOS/ Android device. Importantly, there are no passwords used to decrypt the drive. It is simply unlocked using the biometric security on your device – for instance, face or fingerprint recognition. This means you avoid silly situations where passwords are written on sticky notes stuck on the drive (you know it happens!), or where emails fly around, revealing the password to everyone.

Wars: The Force Awakens – they spoke most eloquently of Disney’s worry that footage would ‘leak’ before the release of the film, and of the extraordinary security around the storing and moving of rushes. Fast forward to the current crazy times, and most editors, VFX artists, sound mixers – in fact, the majority of the post-production chain – are now working remotely, often with rushes stored locally. TV documentaries are continuing to film using local crews,

48 DEF I N I T ION | NOVEMBER 2020

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