Apr 28 2008
Mission Impossible Comes In a Flash Drive
Remember way back when, to the days where the USB flash drives took over the marketplace as the best way to store information on the go? It eliminated the need for a floppy drive, made the invention of the ZIP drive seem irrelevant, and allowed users to store a million times more data in a fraction of the time. Whether it is on a keychain, a pen, or a simple and separate device, people’s important information was made more readily available for transporting from computer to computer. Unfortunately, this ease of portability has also increased the risk of theft or loss of our valued information. Sure, most flash drives now come ready with some sort of encryption, allowing users to enable a password feature to store their data in the hopes that if lost or stolen the perpetrator could not access their secret files. Of course in this day and age, hacking these types of storage devices are becoming more common, especially because of the lax security features most of these flash drives are supported with. In search of a perfect way to keep my portable information safe, I believe I have stumbled across the perfect little flash drive that comes with a Hollywood spy movie sort of feel to it.
Available now, the IronKey USB flash drive (www.ironkey.com) is one of the most secure devices for data storage on the market. Focusing on data protection, this drive contains a military-grade Cryptochip that offers amazing security by scrambling your data with a powerful encryption method. In fact, this encryption is so strong, that the IronKey is approved for use by the Department of Defense. And all you have to do is remember your password.
Sound too simple to offer effective data protection? Without entering the correct password, the IronKey will not connect to the computer. There is security software to prevent Trojans and password-guessing hackers from obtaining your password. After 10 unsuccessful attempts, the Cryptochip “self destructs”, permanently erasing both your encryption keys and important data. Self-destruction also occurs when one tries to physically tamper with the IronKey in the hopes to extract the data from your drive. Not to worry, though; every user can create an Online Security Vault to backup all of their data held on their IronKey in case it is destroyed, lost or stolen, and transfer it to a new IronKey drive. And even the online backup offers strong, government-type encryption to keep you fully protected. The IronKey also offers a great feature of storing your online website passwords securely. It protects you from phishing attacks by verifying the website is correct before entering your password. This is also a great way to fend off any keystroke logging attempts to try and steal your password.
Now, this is just scratching the surface. Visit their website (www.ironkey.com) for the full list of specs and details about this amazing flash drive. I highly recommend this drive to everybody that uses a USB flash drive to transport data. I am always working with highly sensitive information in my profession, and our office just ordered a dozen of these. Whether you are storing government secrets, account numbers, or you just don’t want anyone peeking at your fantasy baseball stats, this secure data storage device is perfect for anyone who values their privacy. After all, you don’t want to be that guy in the headlines who loses 4 million social security numbers because someone swiped his flash drive from the local Starbucks, do you?
