Flexxon, a Singapore-based company that creates NAND flash storage solutions, mostly for the enterprise market, has come out with its X-PHY AI Embedded Cyber Secure SSD, which the company bills as the “last line of cyber defense.”
This internal SSD can protect against both known threats and zero-day attacks, thanks to AI-enabled security at the firmware level that enables real-time data protection, immediately identifying threats and cutting off their access to your data.
On the hardware side, the drive is embedded with sensors to prevent any physical attack including chip top layer scraping. In addition, Flexxon has teamed with Lenovo on three lines of laptops. Based on the ThinkPad and bearing X-PHY Cyber Secure SSDs and other security features, these PCs are due to come to market in early 2022.
Modern cyber threats can easily bypass existing software defenses, flowing from the cloud or network to individual computers, targeting the operating system and breaching the SSD’s firmware to access your data. Flexxon says the X-PHY AI Embedded Cyber Secure SSD can immediately identify these threats and shut off access to your data completely.
During a teleconference with Flexxon’s Singapore office, I witnessed a demonstration of the drive identifying and stopping a ransomware attack. It was impressive, although granted, it was a known ransomware program. The protection method, which requires no human intervention, evaluates data access patterns with its AI co-processor. According to Flexxon, the drive provides 100% zero-day protection coverage, with no false positives.
The three laptop lines—X-PHY Ace, X-PHY CyberPad, and X-PHY Zepto—are essentially hyper-secure ThinkPads, each incorporating an X-PHY Cyber Secure SSD.
- The X-Phy Ace series includes both the 14-inch A14 ($2,050 with 512GB SSD, $2,300 with 1TB SSD) and 15-inch A15 ($3,000 with 1TB SSD).
- The 14-inch CyberPad C14 sells for $1,980 with a 512GB SSD and $2,230 with a 1TB drive.
- The X-PHY Zepto Z14 goes for $2,900 with 512GB and $3,150 with a 1TB drive.
Flexxon sells the X-PHY AI Embedded Cyber Secure SSD in the M.2 2280 form factor for $360 for the 512GB version and $570 for the 1TB stick, through its X-PHY store. They are also available in the U.2 format, primarily used in enterprise systems, for $10 more.
COVID-related supply-chain issues and the global component shortage have impacted the launch of the laptops; new pre-orders are expected to be shipped around April. The first batch of SSDs has hit the market, and a second batch is due out in the first quarter, probably in February.
