Encryption is the process of transforming information–text or data–using an algorithm (a specific set of rules or steps) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, or the key. (We'll talk more about this in our next post when we look at AES-256 encryption). The process of encrypting or decrypting data can be performed two ways: software encryption which uses some of the processing power in your computer to execute the algorithm or hardware encryption.
Aleratec's PortaStor Secure product line of USB flash drives uses a time-proven, always-on hardware encryption known as 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) that was approved by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001 after a five year standardization process.