Were the Secure Thumb Drives we mentioned in a previous post just not enough storage? LaCie, makers of those great portable orange rugged drives, has answered the call of many who need to securely store large files. Files such as movies, audio or other multimedia. LaCie’s Rugged Safe offers multiple levels of data protection, from its “unbreakable hardware encryption and the safest biometric authentication technology,” to its shock–proof enclosures.

The Rugged Safe includes hardware-based AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 128–bit encryption. This is the same standard used by the U.S. government and organizations worldwide to protect critical documents. The drive uses biometric authentication, which enables personalized data control, with access for to up to ten users.

You can connect the drive to your Mac via USB 2.0, FireWire 800 and FireWire 400. Once you have setup the users, they just need swipe a single finger for authentication. The drive requires no software installation and is also bus powered, so you can attach it to any computer and easily access your data.

[Available from LaCie]

Many of my clients in the entertainment industry are intensely concerned, and rightfully so, about the security of their media.  Whether it is video files or scripts, Corsair may have come up with the perfect solution. Prior to this product, users had to fiddle with secure disk images, that were time consuming to handle on a regular basis. Now a much simpler solution is at hand.

The Padlock 2, from Corsair,  features Mac OS X compatible password protection via the built-in keypad. Hardware 256-bit encryption secures your data and multiple failed entries locks device for 2 minutes to prevent repeated attempts to access data.

What if you forget the passcode? Don’t worry, there’s a procedure for wiping the drive clean and generating a new one. 8GB USB 2.0 versions are  available immediately, with larger versions coming soon.
[Via Corsair available now from Amazon.com]

Updated 4/29/2010: Systematic Development Group has added another player in the secure thumb drive game. With a lot of the same as Corsair’s, it is worth taking a look at.

[LOK-IT available directly from Systematic Development Group LLC]

Time Capsule now comes in 1TB and 2TB models starting at just $299. Time Capsule is a Wi-Fi hard drive that works with Mac OS X Leopard’s Time Machine to back up all your data. It’s also a full-featured wireless base station that includes simultaneous dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Guest Network, Back to my Mac support for MobileMe users, Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a USB 2.0 port for sharing a printer and/or a hard drive.

[Available from Apple]

Kingtson has announced their DataTraveler 300 which, according to them, is the world’s first 256 GB USB Flash drive. Using their included software up to 90% of the drives content can be password protected and no administrator rights are required. As of this writing the drive is only available in the UK, but should be available in the US shortly. I can name at least two Los Angeles ACNs, who probably have this on pre-order.

[Estimated $900 from Kingston]