Encryption?: My Passport Ultra vs. My Passport Ultra Metal Edition

[ProspectiveBuy]

Does anyone know if the regular My Passport Ultra has the same type of “256-bit encryption” as the My Passport Ultra Metal Edition?

• WD says in general that the My Passport Ultra and My Passport Ultra Metal both have password protection and hardware encryption ( http://www.wdc.com/en/products/external/portable/).  

•  They specifically say that My Passport Ultra Metal has “256-bit hardware encryption” ( http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1290), but I couldn’t find anywhere where they specifically say what type of hardware encryption the regular My Passport Ultra has. 

[Hamlet]

Hello,

I recommend you contact support directly to get this information. 

Contact WD

[Wuppermann]

Hi ProspectiveBuy!

Did you get any qualified reaction to your enquiry at the WD support in the meantime?

Coincidentally, I did the same today here in Germany.

For some reason WD is actively avoiding the term “256-Bit AES Encryption” on their regular Passport Ultra series’ descriptions (those with the WDBMW at the beginning of the product-number). While on their Ultra Classic series WDBBK and the metal series WDBEZ series it is stated multiple times! (at least on the german pages, I didn’t check with others)

The support told me that this was for no particular reason and I could rely upon the very same encryption in all three of the models. I hope this answer helps other people who are reading carefully enough to notice that difference and wonder as we did.

regards!