SecurDisc Introduction:

Until now there was no real way to insure our ODD recorded data was secure and protected; now LG Electronics has partnered with Nero to tackle the security problem with their new Technology “SecurDisc”.

At the user level, it uses password protection and AES-128 encryption to prevent unauthorized access. While this concept is nothing new, SecurDisc adds an extra layer of security by utilizing a hardware and software based solution. To prevent modification, a digital signature can be applied to data so that its authenticity can be verified.

The SecurDisc data protection technology aims to protect the security and integrity of data written on writable optical media. It protects data from illegal access and alteration by applying a digital signature, while at the same time protecting data from physical damage and degradation. It allows verification using the optical drive itself.

Already, Nero and optical drive manufacturer LG Electronics are integrating SecurDisc in their products, and are planning to license the technology to other users.  This technology is currently available with the LG GSA-55 series drives.

Current versions of Nero 7 are SecurDisc ready and will let you copy protect PDF files. However in order to view a copy protected PDF, a special application called SecurDisc Viewer and a SecurDisc ready drive is needed.

The retail version of the LG GSA-H55 series drives will come with an OEM LG version of Nero 7 essentials that will provide you with the necessary software to use the SecurDisc functions.

Note the SecurDisc logo on the drive's tray Door as show above. Only SecurDisc certified drives will display this logo.  Currently only LG is the only manufacturer releasing drives with this new technology.  Nero plans to introduce a logo certification program so that other hardware vendors can also take advantage of the SecurDisc technology. 

Now that you have some background on SecurDisc, lets move on to some burning with this new technology:

Burning with SecurDisc

Once you have installed one of the LG SecurDisc capable drives and have either the current release of Nero 7 or the Nero Essentials installed from the LG OEM software disc, you will see a couple of new choices in the “Data” menu  selection window.  Below is an example of the new options:

To add files simply click on the “Add” button to add files to your compilation; the drag and drop method will also work.  You will also be able to invoke some SecurDisc settings at this time such as password protect and digitally sign the disc.

In order to digitally sign your disc you will need a private key.  You will need to create this key the first time you use this feature; doing so is a painless process using Nero.  Just follow the prompts in the window and remember to move your mouse and randomly type on the keyboard so that the data is generated to create the key.

Once the private key is created this is what you use to digitally sign your discs.  Remember to keep this in a safe place; you will need it in the future should you want anyone else to be able to verify the contents of the disc.

Since we chose to password protect our data we needed to create a password. Nero let us know how strong our password was as we typed it in.  The strength of the password is arrived from the complexity, length and characters that we used.  Below you will see the process:

Weak Key

Medium Key

Strong Key

A strong password while being the most desirable be careful to make sure that whatever password you decide on that it is something that you can remember; if you forget this password you will not be able to access any of the SecurDisc protected files or folders on said disc. 

Now that we had provided the information necessary we will burn our SecurDisc.  Remember that one of the features of this technology is that Nero will fill the entire disc with redundancy and checksum data which will cause the burn process to take a little longer than for a normal disc burn. 

Now that our SecurDisc burn has completed we see the Nero window showing the SecurDisc features used.  Notice the data reliability level portion of this report; the higher the number the greater the chance we have of being able to recover our data should the disc become damaged.  

Reading a SecurDisc

As we pointed out a SecurDisc drive is required to write CD and DVD media with SecurDisc mode.  For reading media written with SecurDisc it is capable with almost any drive.  Files and folders that were not password protected should be able to be read without any special software.  If you want or need to verify the authenticity of the disc’s data or need to access password protected files you will need to have a compatible version of InCD or InCD reader.  Both files are available for download from the SecurDisc website; clicking on the “Download” button on the screen presented when you insert a SecurDisc into your drive.

Once you have downloaded and installed the InCD reader you will see it’s icon in your system tray.  You will be able to check all of your installed drive’s capabilities for using the SecurDisc technology. 

As we inserted our SecurDisc into our LG GSA-55LI the installed InCD Reader checked to see if it contained any password protected files.  Since our disc does contain protected files and folders we were presented with the window where we inserted our password. 

You will notice that the files on the disc are always viewable even though password protected.  We can not view the contents of these files and folders without first entering the correct password. 

Summary

While SecurDisc prevents unauthorized access to the data on the disc we find that the technology provides a very nice feature in that it also provides protection from disc damage and decay.  Here is what we find regarding this at the SecurDisc website:

Data Reliability helps rescue data from a damaged disc

While media capacity has become less expensive, reliability is still very important for today’s optical storage media as discs can be scratched or otherwise damaged.  SecurDisc significantly increases your chances of retrieving data from a damaged disc.

When you record data to optical media, the discs rarely fill up to their capacity.  In fact, often a considerable amount of space remains unused.

SecurDisc redundantly stores information in the remaining space to safeguard your files in case the discs get damaged.  This feature is vital to the security of your files, so Data Reliability is always enabled and cannot be disabled.

We found the ease of use of the Nero SecurDisc capable software easy to use and understand and since it is available either in the full retail version of Nero 7 or the OEM LG supplied Nero Essentials software you will be ready to secure your discs as soon as the drive and software are installed with little learning curve.

Features & Technology

Reading Tests