Apricorn Aegis 3z Secure Key & Configurator Review – Sleek and Secure!

If you have searched news for privacy breaches or hacks, we guarantee that you will find a new one daily. Several privacy experts proclaim that one of the largest contributors to breaches are as a result of human error. This can be a easy as writing your password on a sticky note that just happens to be on your monitor, or it could be losing a work laptop. One way to help reduce the probability of human error is to add encryption to these ‘lost’ devices, which is exactly what Apricorn has done with their Aegis 3z Secure Key – an encrypted USB flash drive, which comes equipped with a numeric keypad. Let’s take a closer look at the Apricorn Aegis 3z Secure Key flash drive and the Apricorn configurator.

SPECIFICATIONS AND SECURITY

The Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3z is available in capacities of 8, 16, 32, 64 GB, with the 8 and 64GB capacities being tested in this report.  Apricorn will not speak to internal components, but data transfer speeds are listed at up to 190MB/s read and 80MB/s write.  This is slower than expected for a USB 3.1 drive, however acceptable considering that this drive is more geared towards encryption than speed.

The device is constructed of a rugged aluminum which allows for heat dissipation as the drive warms up when in use.  On its face, there are a red, green and blue LED lights at the top, a 10 button keypad to create and use PIN features.

The Secure Key 3z comes with a 3 year warranty and is PC, Mac, Linux, Android and Symbian compatible.

The Apricorn Aegis Secure key 3z provides total hardware security, is FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated, has full-disk 256-Bit AES XTS encryption and contains no software to achieve its data security. In addition, it is dust and water-resistant to level IP57 Certification.  The internal components are protected with a solid epoxy filling which prevents compromise from external attempts to gain access to the drive components.  Last but not least, the Aegis Secure Key 3z also contains a self-destruct feature where the number of bad attempts to gain access can be set, or a self-destruct pin can be set.

APRICORN AEGIS SECURE KEY 3z PRICING

Looking at Amazon, we see the Apricorn Aegis Secure key 3z ranges anywhere from $84.40 for the 8GB version, to $158.93 for the 64GB version we are testing today.  This means that the price per GB ranges from a whopping $10.55/GB at the low-end to 2.49/GB at the high-capacity point.  Frankly, the lower capacity model needs to come down in price, however we can’t complain whatsoever with respect to the 64GB capacity pricing for such as that is much more realistic value.