Kroll Ontrack Unveils On-The-Fly Decryption for HDD Recovery

Software engineers at data recovery Kroll Ontrack Inc. have developed a technology that can reduce the amount of time it takes to recover encrypted HDDs with a logical or physical failure – a development in light of the number of cyber threats that are driving the adoption of encrypted drives.

The decryption technology allows engineers to target only areas of the HDD that have been used while also automating the decryption process – improving the industry recovery turn time.

A recovery project involving an encrypted drive can take up to five days to complete using traditional solutions. CA Technologies Inc. estimates IT downtime costs North American companies $26.5 billion per year, at an average cost of $42,000 per hour according to Gartner.

“Simply put, the longer a company is without its data, the more money it loses,” said Paul Le Messurier, data recovery operations manager, Kroll Ontrack. “We know our new ‘decryption-on-the-fly’ technology represents a true breakthrough for the data recovery industry because it can make a significant impact on a company’s ability to rebound from an IT outage or other potentially catastrophic events with minimal damage to the business.“

As with all encrypted drives, the company works with customers to procure their network credentials. The technology then uses proprietary imaging software to target areas of the drive with user data rather than imaging the entire drive. It then uses automation technology to decrypt those areas, allowing the company to begin the recovery process earlier and complete it faster. This entire process can cut turnaround time from days to hours.

The number of encrypted HDDs in use has risen alongside an increase in cyber security threats that can expose personal and business information. The company has seen the amount of recovery projects that involve encrypted HDDs more than double since 2009.