CONCLUSION

   When iStorage "revealed" their plans for an upcoming Cloud based encryption model to us almost a year ago i was really hoping that meant they'd also offer their very own Cloud storage service which end-users could access only by using their USB encryption device. As you can clearly see however this wasn't the case since iStorage went with a more "generic" approach/solution instead, one which could be used for both local and Cloud based data encryption regardless of host. This of course was the right move since that way they can cover a much wider range of consumers and professionals (not to mention that starting their very own Cloud storage service would require a huge investment on their part - still i do hope it happens in the future). With that out of the way as you can also tell from the rest of this review the cloudAshur delivers on everything iStorage advertises it for. It can be used to encrypt both local and Cloud based files and folders and on top of that thanks to the extra apps you can clone it and place several safeguards for increased protection. As always, we used several ways to try and break the encryption of the drive, without luck however so (once again however we are not hackers so take this with a grain of salt). My one single issue with the cloudAshur is that even though you can’t break the encryption of the local files you can still delete them. At the end of the day your sensitive data will never end up into the hands of others but the ability for anyone to delete them was something I was hoping iStorage would somehow stop from happening (still I don’t know if that’s really technically possible).

   With a current price tag set at just USD128 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at just 126Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the brand new cloudAshur Cloud Encryption Module by iStorage is a lot more aggressively priced than what I was expecting. Granted it has no internal flash space to use for data but you’re still getting the same high level of encryption as with their external HDD and SSD drives so yes, I was expecting for it to cost more (you do have to spend more for the extra licenses however). That being said it’s not quite as easy to use as their external drives and the fact that your files can be deleted is also not something that can happen with those drives (although someone could always argue that the drives themselves can be destroyed) but overall I was very satisfied with the cloudAshur which is why it deserves our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (IP58 Certified Anodized Aluminum Enclosure)
- Design
- PIN Authentication
- Security Measures (AES-XTS 256-bit Hardware Encryption / EAL4+ Ready CPU / FIPS 140-2 Level 3, NLNCSA BSPA & NATO restricted level certified)
- KeyWriter & Remote Management Apps (Easy File Sharing / Extra Safety Measures)
- 3 Year Warranty with Free Lifetime Support
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Licenses Cost Extra
- Encrypted Files & Folders Can Be Deleted
- Size