The DARC-ssd™ 600 data-at-rest (DAR) encrypted SSD from Viasat Inc. has been approved by the NATO Military Committee (MC) for securing NATO SECRET data when at rest and is now listed in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC).
The approval and inclusion in the NIAPC confirms that Viasat’s solution meets stringent requirements for securing NATO SECRET data, allowing NATO nations to protect classified information from theft or compromise.
Viasat’s advanced DAR solution enhances legacy encryption systems, providing improved protection for classified data across multiple platforms. It features hardware-based encryption and a flexible M.2 form factor, ensuring continued assurance for high-risk operations.
Utilizing the industry-standard Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) interface and the common M.2 2280 form factor, the DARC-ssd™ 600 enables next-generation encryption integration with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and tactical military devices, including laptops, tablets, desktops, and network-attached storage.
As part of Viasat’s Eclypt DAR encryption family, the DARC-ssd™ 600 combines military-grade 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware with full-disk encryption. Data is decrypted upon device startup using mandatory two-factor authentication and is re-encrypted immediately when powered off. This dual authentication and full-disk encryption are housed in a tamper-evident internal NVMe™ M.2 SSD to safeguard sensitive and classified data.
In 2023, the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed its CAPS High Grade evaluation of the DARC-ssd™ 600 for protecting data up to the Top Secret classification. It is reportedly the only DAR encryption device using an NVMe interface and M.2 form factor that has been CAPS evaluated for securing data up to and including TOP SECRET.
Todd McDonell, President of Viasat International Government, commented, “As a trusted provider of cyber defence and information assurance solutions, we’ve seen the evolution of encryption technology and understand the growing challenge to protect sensitive and classified data across the many devices and platforms capturing data now used for government missions. DARC-ssd™ 600 is designed with the flexibility to address this challenge and deliver significantly improved performance compared to past data-at-rest solutions, continuing Viasat’s legacy of innovating to provide hardware encryption solutions at the highest levels to protect classified and sensitive information.”
