FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validated Data Handling Practices in Data Recovery

What is FIPS?

The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) is a set of standards to describe document processing, encryption algorithms, and other standards. FIPS is the standard used by non-military government agencies.

For a device or procedure to be labeled as FIPS 140-2, it must be validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology through the Cryptographic Module Validation Program. These modules and standards were created to protect sensitive information. Our current FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certification means you are guaranteed a high level of security, assurance, and reliability.

The significance of the Levels

There are four levels to the security requirement, and FIPS Level 3 means that the first two requirements have been met plus the device itself has security features which allow for tamper detection and tamper response.

• Security Level 1 for FIPS 140-2 is the most basic requirement for a cryptographic module. No physical security mechanisms are required and it only uses production-grade equipment.
• Level 2 provides higher security with tamper-evident coatings on devices as well as authentication to make sure a user is cleared to use the device or access the module. Using software on this level of the device requires a trusted operating system.
• Secure Data Recovery offers Level 3 certification for data handling practices, offering both physical security to detect tampering and identity-based authentication. There must be a physical or logical separation between the interfaces from which the data enters and leaves. Private keys to access the data must also be encrypted.

Importance of a FIPS-140 Level 3 Validation in Data Recovery

We have offices all over the country, with five recovery labs in North America. When your data is shipped back to you, it may travel a long distance. Secure Data Recovery offers customers the option of having their data returned on a FIPS-140 level 3 certified drive. The configuration of these drives guarantees that if the drive is lost in transit or tampered with, your information stays completely secure.

When you choose our KP model SecureDrive, the drive is given a PIN using a random number generator. No one will be able to guess the PIN and if they were to attempt to enter the number, after 10 consecutive login attempts, the data is wiped from the drive.

The BT drive model is given a unique password as well and can only be accessed through the DataLock app on your phone. Both of these drives have Military Grade 256-bit AES XTS Hardware Encryption. Our FIPS certificates for these drives were awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and can be found at the links below:

https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/Certificate/3349

https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/Certificate/3297

No other recovery company in the industry has FIPS validated data handling procedures, meaning your data is at risk of falling into the wrong hands during transit. We are the only data recovery company in the industry that boasts FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certification. When you work with Secure Data Recovery, you can be sure that you are using the most secure option to receive your crucial personal data.