It seems like the benefits are having the device lock/wipe itself after a set amount of attempts in case of a brute force attack and not having to run software to decrypt the drive on the device you plug it into.
I included a picture of the IronKey Keypad 200 but that's just because it's the first result that came up when I was looking for an example. There seem to be a few other manufacturers and models out there and they probably have different features.
I am curious what do you think of them? Do you think they are useful? Do you find it more a novelty?
It was an ExplainingComputers video titled Very Useful Small Computing Things that made me think of them.
Overkill and overpriced. If you're on Windows, bitlocker is enough. If you're on Linux, LUKS is enough.
I've used Apricorn drives at previous jobs. They're cool and very much fit for purpose, but I'd have a hard time justifying the significant price premium when software is nearly as good, free, and works with any drive.
Bitlocker shouldn't be considered secure as it is a Windows only encryption that is a black box for the most part. Additionally your decryption keys are send to Microsoft
Eh, I wouldn't trust a US company (that can be served an NSL and is obligated to install backdoors) to do your FDE.
For windows, veracrypt is safer than bitlocker
Is possible to veracrypt an entire Windows install?
system disk encryption is possible, yes.
Huh I'll have to try it sometime
Yes
That seems to be the consensus. Would be significantly overkill and more of a neat novelty for a local backup of my taxes that's just going to sit on my desk.