Portable Flash Drives Benefit From Encryption

USB drives that are fast and mobile clearly have uses for certain customers, especially those requiring security. Ultimately, these devices and their encryption features need to be managed by IT to truly keep sensitive data safe.

TORONTO More than a year ago I wrote about how little use I had for a box of USB thumb drives Id collected over the years, but not all readers agreed with me, pointing out the various benefits of having one handy.

Since then, Ive pulled out a thumb drive once to re-flash some firmware on a media streamer. The fact that I work from home means I dont have much need to transport data, and if need be, most of my important documents can be grabbed from the cloud when Im on the go using any device.

But I can see why some users or organizations might need to a portable drive sometimes you just cant connect to the cloud securely enough or at all, or the file you need is so large, downloading it is inconvenient. Or you dont really trust cloud services at all.

Portable drives can pose a security risk as well. Next to hacked databases, often most of the high-profile data-theft stories we hear about are due to lost or stolen USB drives that were not secure and were holding data that should never have left the corporate firewall in the first place.

Thats why Kingston still sees a market for portable USB flash drives. In fact, its growing, according to Ken Campbell, the companys encrypted USB business manager. Specifically, the opportunity is in encrypted drives, a product area that grew 19% in 2014 over the 2013, he said.

Security is still high on peoples minds, Campbell said in a telephone interview, and they always need to transfer data. There are times where there is no Internet and you have to carry data around somewhere.

WiFi is perceived to be more ubiquitous than it really is. I make sure all of my critical documents are available offline on all my computers in case I lose connectivity on long train rides, for example, so I can be productive while travelling.

But its security where Kingston sees the opportunity. The company is targeting corporate customers and government organizations that are intentionally moving data on portable USB flash drives with encryption and management tools. The company recently announced two versions of the DataTraveler 4000 Gen. 2, including one that Kingston calls Management Ready. Both are FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified with data protected by hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption in XTS mode.

The Management Ready version can be managed centrally, letting the IT department control drives when plugged into a device with Internet connectivity. Campbell said the DataTraveler also doesnt allow data to be put on a public partition; Kingston wants organizations to know they have a secure option for taking data outside the network. Encryption, combined with the speed of USB 3.0, is what customers are ultimately looking for in a portable flash drive, he said.

See more here:
Portable Flash Drives Benefit From Encryption