The release of the BioCert® iQBioDrive™ Portable Biometric Hard Drive with BioCert's CryptoLokr™ AES 256 Bit Cipher Encryption was announced today by Artemis Solutions Group. The product's price is reduced and its encryption improved. The iQBioDrive is being marketed by ASG as a device for secure personal portable data and an enabling solution for HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SARBOX and GLBa compliance. Its price starts at only $149.95, having capacities of 80GB, 120GB and 160GB. In plus, it has a USB connector which can be attached to any computer and which makes the device portable.

Since over one third of American citizens had to deal with identity theft, iQBio Blog declared 2006 as the "Year of Personal Data Breach". The same thing continued in 2007 as well, according to ASG.

    James Childers, CEO of ASG, stated: "This pandemic of stupidity has to stop. Congratulations, you may be the current or potential future victim of identity theft without even knowing it - all courtesy of an illegal release of your information by your State, Federal Government agencies or big business, each with a responsibility and a legal mandate to protect your private data. The odds are fairly good that your private data is currently available to anyone who might be looking to use it for identity theft, personal profit, or even more dubious actions."

There is an increasing number of media reports regarding the illegal or accidental disclosures. The individula private data is insecurely stored or transported.

    The iQBioDrive™ seems to be the solution to these problems. Marketed by ASG's BioCert Division, the iQBioDrive provides secure access through fingerprint authentication to the data that is stored on a biometrically locked and encrypted partition.

    The encrypted partition on the iQBioDrive is set to Multi-Factor (Triple Factor) Authentication incorporating a token, fingerprint and secure password. You must first use your fingerprint to unlock the "Secure Partition" of the drive and then use a secure password and then the drive checks against a hidden encryption key located on the drive to finally mount the "Encrypted Partition" creating a super-secure method of storing your most sensitive data.

The drive gives you the option of storing data in one of three different storage areas with three increasing levels of security:

Public Partition (Open Security) - This option is available whenever the drive is plugged into a computer. Items stored in this area are always available whenever the drive is attached to a PC. Anti-virus programs or sales presentations could be stored in this partition.

Biometric Secure Partition (Biometric Locked Security) - This option is available when the user authenticates with their fingerprint. Encryption is not needed on this partition, as it has a higher security level than the other one.

Encrypted Secure Volume (Multi-Factor Security) - This drive volume is a sub-set of the Biometric Secure Partition and is available only after authenticating with your fingerprint and then verifying your identity with a secure password and/or keyfile.

An additional application is offered by ASG, in partnership with Comodo. This ensures the security of the host PC. The desktop security solutions include:

    * Firewall - rated an Editor's Choice by PC Magazine
    * VerificationEngine - the anti-phishing solution that authenticates web content
    * Anti SPAM - uses challenge/ response technology to clear inbox of SPAM
    * E-Mail Certificates - allows you to digitally sign and encrypt emails
    * Back-Up - utility that allows users to quickly and easily create backup copies of critical files.