ZDNet Reviews Top External Hard Drives for 2026 – Guidance for Secure Third‑Party Storage
What Happened – ZDNet’s editorial team conducted hands‑on testing of the latest external hard drives and published a ranked guide featuring products such as the Lexar SL500, Western Digital My Passport Ultra, and Samsung T9 Portable SSD. The review highlights key attributes like hardware‑based encryption, durability, and performance.
Why It Matters for TPRM –
- External drives are frequently used by vendors and contractors to transfer or archive sensitive data, creating a potential attack surface.
- Encryption and firmware security vary widely between manufacturers, affecting data confidentiality and integrity.
- Procurement decisions without a security lens can introduce supply‑chain risk from hardware that lacks proper hardening or update mechanisms.
Who Is Affected – Technology‑focused enterprises, SaaS providers, and any organization that relies on third‑party storage devices for backup, data migration, or field work.
Recommended Actions – Review existing third‑party storage inventories, validate that devices employ strong encryption and receive firmware updates, and embed storage‑hardware security criteria into vendor risk assessments.
Technical Notes – The guide notes software‑based encryption (iStorage DiskAshur Pro 3) and hardware‑level encryption (Lexar SL500). No specific CVEs or vulnerabilities are disclosed, but the variance in security features underscores the need for due‑diligence. Source: ZDNet – Best External Hard Drives of 2026