Bull publicizes bootable USB drive

By Dave Nixon

Bull has a gadget for businesses concerned about the security of data stored on laptops, namely a bootable, portable password-protected hard disk drive with an embedded cryptographic processor that shields data if the device is misplaced or stolen.

Globull is a bright red item about the size and weight of an iPod Classic. It has a colour display, houses a 60GB hard disk drive and has a USB 2.0 cable that wraps around the device for storage.

Attach it into any USB boot enabled PC, turn on the computer, enter your password on Globull’s miniature touch-sensitive pad underneath its display, and you have admission to your normal working environment, applications and data. Switch off the computer again and you can take your data away without leaving a trace, according to Bull’s marketing director, Bruno Pinna.

Globull’s design signifies that users don’t need full trust in the PCs they use. They enter passwords directly on Globull, and the encryption keys never depart from the device. The working environment is loaded entirely from the device, so there is no danger of scrutiny or interception by malicious software on the PC, said Pinna.

Most modern PCs have the capability to boot from an external USB drive, although IT managers may have selected to render inoperative this option in the BIOS settings for security reasons. It’s not always desirable if staff can boot up an operating system of their preference, bypassing anti-virus or other security software installed on company PCs.

The 120-gram Globull package contains the hard disk and a cryptographic processor that scrambles data on the fly at 100MB/s, using the Advanced Encryption Standard with a 256-bit key (AES-256), protecting the data if the disk is lost or stolen. Without the password, the data cannot be decrypted.

Bull visualizes a number of scenarios in which the drive could be practical to secure data; mobile workers with their own laptop; staff working on shared PCs, or for performing demonstrations on a client’s computer. The company suggests installing a complete operating system - Windows or Linux - and applications on the device, but warns buyers to ensure that their existing software licences allow such a use.

Booting Windows from an external drive can be complicated, since it needs to recognize peripherals and other hardware at the time it is installed, said Pinna. To circumvent that constraint, Bull offers an optional virtualisation layer for Globull based on Mandriva Linux. The virtualisation layer allows a Windows installation to run in spite of of the hardware used.

For now, Bull is offering the device only in France, but despite the defence-level encryption it contains, there’s no legal reason why it can’t be sold elsewhere, said company spokeswoman Anne Marie Jourdain. Bull just preferred to concentrate on France first, and an international launch is planned for the second half of the year, she said.

Globull has a price tag of 460 euros ($685) for the basic version, but the price is negotiable in quantity, Jourdain said.

The virtualisation layer adds 80 euros to the cost, Pinna said.

By year-end, Bull anticipates to offer a higher-capacity model with a 120GB disk. Other authentication methods are also being considered, including a version with a fingerprint reader.