Apricorn Aegis Padlock 3.0 User Manual
Aegis Padlock 3.0
User’s Manual
Data Security at Your Fingertips
Remember to memorize / save your
authentication and recovery PINs in a
safe place.
Table of Contents
First-Time Use 4
Admin Mode 4
Locking the Drive 5
Unlocking the Drive 5
LED States and Their Meaning 5
Adding a New User PIN (Via Admin Mode) 6
Adding a New User PIN (Via User Forced Enrollment Mode) 6
Deleting the User PIN 7
Changing the User PIN 7
Changing the Admin PIN 7
Setting One-Time-Use Recovery PINs 8
Using One-Time-Use Recovery PINs 8
Setting Read-Only or Read / Write Modes from Admin Mode 9
Setting Read-Only or Read / Write Modes from the User Mode 10
Setting LED Flicker / Button Press Indicator Mode 11
Setting Minimum PIN Length Requirement 11
Setting the Unattended Auto-Lock Feature 11
Setting a Self-Destruct PIN 12
Aegis Padlock 3.0 Brute-Force Protection 13
Performing a Complete Reset 14
Initializing and Formatting After a Complete Reset 15
Hibernating or Logging Off from the Operating System 16
Aegis Padlock 3.0 Setup for Mac OS 16
Diagnostic Mode 17
Lock-Override Mode 18
Troubleshooting / FAQs 19
Quick Reference Guide for Key Command Programming 20
Warranty and RMA information 21
Copyright © Apricorn, Inc 2017. All rights reserved.
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respective owners.
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Distribution of the work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book
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DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED AS IS AND ALL EXPRESS OR
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INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT,
ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH
DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID
(Rev 0) 05/25/2017
First-Time Use
CONFIGURABLE
congured has the “congurable” logo on the belly label and second, DO NOT perform
any of the the following Manual Admin and USER PIN SETUP steps below; The Aegis
Congurator will execute these setup steps and will only recognize devices in their factory
“out of box” state or devices that have been completely reset.
Each Aegis padlock 3.0 is shipped without a preset Personal Identication Number (PIN)
installed on the key. A 6 to 16-digit Admin PIN must rst be established before the drive can
be used. This Admin PIN can be used to set any and all of the Admin Mode Features of the
drive, as well as to access its data. Note: PINs can’t be repeating or sequential numbers
such as 0123456, 987654321, or 1111111, 2222222, etc.
NOTE: if you are using the Aegis Congurator to set up your Aegis Padlock,
or any other Apricorn secure drive, you must rst ensure that the device to be
To Set Up the Admin PIN:
1. Plug device into USB Port. Both the BLUE and GREEN LEDs will glow steadily.
2. Press + 9 at the same time. The BLUE LED will glow steadily and the GREEN LED
will blink.
3. Enter the series of numbers that you will use for the Admin PIN and press the button.*
4. Re-enter that same PIN and press the button again. The GREEN LED will illuminate for
one second, then replaced by the BLUE LED glowing steadily.
5. The drive is now in Admin mode where Admin features can be set (e.g., adding a User.)
6. If no further user(s) or functions are to be added, you can exit the Admin mode by pressing
the CANCEL button and the drive will return to the locked standby state. If no action is
taken within 30 seconds, the drive will return to its locked sleep state.
* GREEN LED will blink if the PIN is accepted; If the PIN is NOT accepted,
the RED LED will blink-- see PIN requirements above.
Admin Mode
To set up any of the drive’s Admin functions and features, the Admin mode must rst be
entered. Once in the Admin mode, each of the drive’s functions can be addressed with the
appropriate button commands. Also note that while in the Admin mode, the actual data on the
drive will not be accessible.
To return to the Admin mode for future setups, perform the following steps below.
1. Press and hold + 0 for ve seconds until the RED LED blinks.
(This indicates that the drive is prepared to accept the correct Admin PIN.)
2. Enter the Admin PIN and press the button.
3. Successfully entering the Admin Mode is indicated by a solid BLUE LED.
4. To exit the Admin Mode, either allow 30 seconds of inactivity or press the
CANCEL button.
4
Unlocking the Drive
Enter either a User PIN or Admin PIN and press the button. If the PIN is accepted, the
GREEN LED will blink three times, then will rapidly blink for a short time, followed by steady
glowing, indicating that it’s now unlocked and ready for use. If the PIN is incorrect, the RED
LED will blink.
Locking the Drive
Press the CANCEL button. When successfully locked, The RED LED will glow steadily,
indicating that it’s returned to its standby state.
The Aegis Padlock will not be recognized by the operating system while in its standby state.
Note: If data is still being written to the key when the CANCEL button is pressed, the Padlock 3.0
will wait until that operation is completed before the lock command is executed.
LED States and Their Meaning
No LEDs Drive locked, power switch is off, device unplugged
Blinking RED Error / incorrect button entry; Mode Not Available;
User PIN Change
Solid RED Locked / Standby state; Awaiting PIN entry
Blinking GREEN Button-entry accepted
Solid BLUE /
Blinking GREEN
Solid BLUE Admin Mode
Solid GREEN Drive unlocked
Slow Blinking BLUE Drive unlocked in Lock-Override Mode
Solid GREEN /
Slow Blinking RED
Alternating
RED / BLUE
One second of RED
followed by one
second of GREEN
followed by one
second of BLUE
Three Seconds of
Solid RED / GREEN
Waiting for New User or Admin PIN to be
established
Drive unlocked in Read-Only Mode
Indicates a mode has been entered that can result
in the deletion of a User or the data on the drive
(depending on the mode chosen.)
Also used when setting Auto-lock feature
Self-test mode to ensure all components are ready
and working properly
During Reset Process, indicates successful
resetting of cryptographic security parameters
5
Establishing a User PIN
If no additional Users beyond the Admin will be permitted to access the drive’s data, disregard
this page’s contents as it relates only to the “User” PINs.
The Aegis Padlock 3.0 can have one Admin and four addtional Users, making a total of ve working PINs.
Adding a User is a perfect way to securely share the drive or deploy it for use where the Users do
not require access to the drive’s Admin features. While the Users have limited functionality and
no Admin rights to the drive, they can still access all of its data, change their own User PINs, and
set the drive to Read Only or Read / Write mode.
There are two ways to establish a User PIN: Admin-generated while in Admin Mode, or Usergenerated while in User Forced Enrollment State.
A.) ADMIN-GENERATED USER PIN
1. Enter the Admin Mode by holding + 0 for ve seconds; With RED LED blinking, enter the
Admin PIN and press the button. The BLUE LED will glow steadily.
2. Press the + 1 buttons together until the BLUE LED glows steadily and the GREEN
LED starts blinking.
3. Enter the User PIN* and press . The GREEN LED will blink three times by itself, then
the BLUE LED will glow steadily as the GREEN LED continues blinking.
4. Enter that same User PIN again and press to verify. The GREEN LED will glow
steadily for three seconds verifying that the User PIN was successfully added, and
then will be replaced by the BLUE LED glowing steadily, indicating that the drive has
returned to the Admin mode.
CREATING FORCED ENROLLMENT STATE ALLOWING USER TO GENERATE USER PIN
B.) USER-GENERATED USER PIN (USER FORCED ENROLLMENT)
Note: User Forced Enrollment state can only be implemented where there is no
Admin-generated User PINs set up as described in the process above.
User Forced Enrollment Security Warning:
When a drive is in the User Forced Enrollment state, it is essentially unlocked until a User
PIN is established. Therefore, DO NOT load sensitive data onto the drive if User Forced
Enrollment is to be implemented.
1. Enter the Admin Mode by holding + 0 for ve seconds; With RED LED blinking, enter the
Admin PIN and press the button. The BLUE LED will glow steadily.
2. Press 0 + 1 and the GREEN LED will blink three times, then will be replaced by BLUE
LED glowing steadily. Press the CANCEL button to return the drive to its locked state. The
drive is now in User Forced Enrollment State, allowing the rst User to establish his own
User PIN.
USER-GENERATED USER PIN IN FORCED ENROLLMENT STATE
1. Press and ensure that the BLUE and the GREEN LEDs are glowing steadily.
2. Press + 1 and ensure that the BLUE LED continues glowing steadily while the
GREEN LED blinks. Enter the new User PIN and press the button. The GREEN LED
will blink three times by itself and then will be joined by the BLUE LED glowing steadily.
3. Within 30 seconds, enter that same User PIN once more, and press the button again.
This time, the GREEN LED will glow steadily for a few seconds, then the drive will return
to its locked state, indicated by the RED LED glowing steadily. The drive’s data can now
be accessed using either a User PIN or the Admin PIN.
* Note: Default setting for minimum PIN length is 6 characters,
and a maximum of 16.
6
Deleting the User PIN
You can delete the User PIN by doing the following:
1. Enter the Admin mode. (Hold + 0 for ve seconds. With the RED LED blinking, enter the
Admin PIN and press the button.) The BLUE LED will now glow steadily.
2. Press the 7 + 8 buttons together for ve seconds. The GREEN LED will blink three times and
then will be followed by the RED and BLUE LEDs blinking alternately.
3. Press the 7 + 8 buttons together again for ve seconds. The GREEN LED will glow
steadily for two seconds.
4. The drive will return to Admin mode indicated by the BLUE LED glowing steadily.
NOTE: Deleting the User PIN will also delete the Self-Destruct PIN and all recovery
PINs (if any have been set.)
Changing the User PIN
The User PIN can be changed within the User mode (drive unlocked, GREEN LED blinking)
* Note: The Admin PIN cannot be changed while in the User mode.
The Admin PIN can only be changed from within the Admin mode-- See below.
You can change the User PIN by doing the following:
1. Unlock the Aegis Padlock 3.0 with the User PIN. (The GREEN LED will blink)
2. Press the + 1 buttons together for ve seconds (the RED LED will blink)
3. Enter the current User PIN and press the button. (The BLUE LED will glow steadily
and the GREEN LED will blink.)
4. Enter the new User PIN and press the button (the GREEN LED will blink three
times, followed by the BLUE LED glowing steadily and the GREEN LED blinking.)
5. Re-enter the new User PIN and press the button (the GREEN LED will glow
steadily for two seconds, then will return to the User mode, indicated by the GREEN
LED blinking.)
Changing the Admin PIN
Changes to the Admin PIN can only be made while the drive is in the Admin mode.
1. Enter the Admin mode. (Hold + 0 for ve seconds – with the RED LED blinking, enter
the Admin PIN and press the button.) The BLUE LED will glow steadily.
2. Press UNLOCK + 9. The BLUE LED will glow steadily and the GREEN LED will blink.
3. Enter the new Admin PIN and press the button. The GREEN LED will blink
three times.
4. Re-enter the new Admin PIN and press the button. The GREEN LED will glow steadily
for two seconds and then return to the Admin mode, indicated by the BLUE LED glowing
steadily.
7
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