Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB data storage devices, today announced that its flagship offering, the Aegis Fortress L3, has won Gold in both the Hardware Storage category of The Stevie® Awards’ 2019 International Business Awards and the Security Hardware category in Network Products Guide’s 14th Annual 2019 IT World Awards®.
As the world’s premier business awards, the Stevie Awards honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and professionals worldwide. The Stevie Awards’ International Business Awards are open to all organizations worldwide, and Stevie Award judges include over 1,000 of the world’s most respected executives, entrepreneurs, innovators, and business educators. Apricorn’s Aegis Fortress L3 was awarded the top honor of “Gold Stevie Winner” in this year’s category of Best New Product or Service of the Year: Hardware – Storage.
As the industry’s leading technology research and advisory guide, Network Products Guide highlights the leading companies in every facet of the IT industry, and the 14th Annual 2019 IT World Awards honors their achievements in their respective sectors. The judges for the Network Products Guide’s 14th Annual 2019 IT World Awards are pulled from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world, who examine the submissions based on their independent review of the nominating companies’ submitted materials. Hundreds of companies from around the world entered this year’s award program, and Apricorn’s Aegis Fortress L3 earned the highest recognition in the security hardware category for its combination of comprehensive encryption capabilities, speed and durability.
Designed for regulated industries including finance, government, legal, healthcare, and power and energy, the next-generation Aegis Fortress L3 is Apricorn’s latest and most advanced USB drive. Released in December 2018, the device features Apricorn’s latest encryption chipset, which gives SSD versions of the Aegis Fortress L3 write and read speed increases of up to 150 and 180 percent, respectively, compared to previous versions. The Fortress L3 has received several additional recognitions this year, most notably winning Cyber Defense Magazine’s 2019 InfoSec Award for Breakout Encryption. The recognition from the Stevie Awards’ International Business Award and Network Products Guide’s IT World Award further validates the security capabilities and durability of the Fortress L3.
Like all Apricorn Aegis Secure Drives and Secure Keys, the Fortress L3 is software-free in setup and operation which allows for complete platform compatibility. All passwords and commands are entered by way of the device’s onboard keypad and all authentication and encryption processes take place within the device itself, which never shares password or encryption-keys with its host computer. In addition, the device’s complete FIPS 140-2 Level-3 validation (pending 2019) is the highest level assigned by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) for portable encrypted devices, and the validation boundary includes the entire drive including the electronics, drive and enclosure.
“The battle between cybercriminals and companies will never end, as attacks become more sophisticated and subversive every day. Advanced hardware technology has always been the go-to for mitigating the countless daily threats,” said Mike McCandless, vice president of sales and marketing at Apricorn. “We’re excited to earn this recognition from both the International Stevie Awards and Network Products Guide for the comprehensive encryption and security capabilities of the Aegis Fortress L3, and will continue to provide our customers with the industry’s highest level of hardware-based data security.”
About Apricorn
Headquartered in Poway, California, Apricorn provides secure storage innovations to the most prominent companies in the categories of finance, healthcare, education, and government throughout North America, Canada and EMEA. Apricorn products have become the trusted standard for a myriad of data security strategies worldwide. Founded in 1983, numerous award-winning products have been developed under the Apricorn brand and for a number of leading computer manufacturers on an OEM basis.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190820005171/en/