Tuesday Seagate announced that its Momentus Self-Encrypting Drive (SED)--the world's first laptop HDD with built-in encryption--has secured FIPS 140-2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

In short, it's a 2.5-inch SED that even the government can rely on. In fact, Seagate's Momentus will be deployed by all U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, state and local governments, and regulated industries required to use FIPS-certified gear.

"Today’s NIST approval gives our system builder and end-user customers the peace of mind that Momentus Self-Encrypting Drives deliver the full power of government-grade security," said Dave Mosley, executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management at Seagate.

According to Seagate, the drive's embedded AES encryption chip automatically and transparently encrypts all drive data, not just selected files or partitions. IT administrators can instantly erase all data cryptographically for quick drive redeployment.

Additionally, the Momentus SED eliminates disk initialization and configuration required by encryption software. It even keeps all security keys and cryptographic operations within the drive, separating them from the operating system to provide greater protection against hacking and tampering.

Momentus SEDs with FIPS support are available in 250 GB and 500 GB capacities. To learn more about the entire Momentus range, head here.