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A flash drive with (just) password protection. |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2,215
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A flash drive with (just) password protection.
Can anyone tell me how I can get a flash drive with (just) password protection ?
I`ve got a Peak one which does just what I want, you can partition it and use password protection for some of it, but it doesn`t work on Windows 7 or Windows 10, only XP. I`ve got a few Scan Disc flash drives which have a "Vault" which actually encrypts the data, but it`s too much because accessing the stuff in the "Vault" takes too long (e.g. any photographs have to be individually opened up and you can`t see them as thumbnails). On the other hand I bought a cheap "Integral Pastel" flash drive and that has no facility for password protection at all. Basically I want a flash drive with password protection which once the password is entered then acts as any flash drive so data can be added / moved / copied / viewed easily. Are there any out there ? ! ? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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The Integral Crypto range will do what you are asking. They work on XP through to 7 for certain, though I haven't personally tested on Win 10.
Note that as it is software encryption you would not be able to use it on anything other than Windows devices. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2,215
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Quote:
The Integral Crypto range will do what you are asking. They work on XP through to 7 for certain, though I haven't personally tested on Win 10.
Note that as it is software encryption you would not be able to use it on anything other than Windows devices. With the Integral Crypto, if you put in the password to open the device, are all pictures (for example) viewable as thumbnails (Windows, rather confusingly, actually calls them ICONS) as opposed to having to individually open up each one to see it ? |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 5,741
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The partition with the data on is encrypted. When you put the stick in the only thing you can access is an unlock application. Once unlocked, the data partition will mount and Windows will treat it the same as any other flash drive.
The unlock application is quite good in that you can set a maximum amount of incorrect logins before it erases the data. It also has a facility to put a name and contact on the front screen so if you lost it there is a chance the finder could return it. Looks like the newer models also support OS X as well as Windows if you happened to need that. http://www.integralmemory.com/produc...ted-usb-drives |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2,215
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Very PC suggested a Kingston Data Traveller flash drive, the down side being they cost £94 ! Does anyone have any experience off them ? Also, do they work on XP machines ?
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 407
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The problem with any device which uses hardware encryption but has a program on the drive to download the password from the computer to the drive is that they depend crucially on the precise operating system you're using. I've had to return an Integral one because it broke between OSX 10.9 and 10.10, and even those which purport to work on Linux only work on x86 Linux with particular caveats, so no Raspberry PI for you.
The best solution is the various iStorage products which use a keypad on the device itself so have no reliance on the OS on the device you plug them into (other than your choice of filesystem to format it with, obviously). The "personal" versions are pretty cheap now, and unless you're pissing about with protectively marked stuff which actually requires the assurance certificate, or you believe your adversaries have state-actor level laboratories to dismantle hardware in and recover keys with, they're more than secure enough. Corsair have some similar devices which use the same basic chipset, but have the theoretical issue of using a smaller keypad which means that the PIN isn't as strong, and the more serious issue of being a bit big and ugly for roughly the same money. Most products use ClevX's Datalock as their basic building block, so the security has been done by people who know what they're doing. Edit to add: the keypad-based Kingston products like the DataTraveller 2000 are (as a quick look at them will show you) a rebranded version of the iStorage product: Kingston haven't even just integrated the ClevX stuff themselves, it's the same enclosure too. They are, I think, the iStorage "Pro" range (USB 3.0, AES XTS) but you don't get the CESG assurance certificate. No-one outside government needs this level of assurance: the iStorage not-Pro is 20 quid less, sacrificing only USB 3.0 and XTS (CBC is perfectly sound), and much cheaper if you only want 4GB, and the iStorage Personal range is fifty quid cheaper for 16GB and the 8gb version is sixty quid cheaper. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2,215
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Quote:
The problem with any device which uses hardware encryption but has a program on the drive to download the password from the computer to the drive is that they depend crucially on the precise operating system you're using. I've had to return an Integral one because it broke between OSX 10.9 and 10.10, and even those which purport to work on Linux only work on x86 Linux with particular caveats, so no Raspberry PI for you.
The best solution is the various iStorage products which use a keypad on the device itself so have no reliance on the OS on the device you plug them into (other than your choice of filesystem to format it with, obviously). The "personal" versions are pretty cheap now, and unless you're pissing about with protectively marked stuff which actually requires the assurance certificate, or you believe your adversaries have state-actor level laboratories to dismantle hardware in and recover keys with, they're more than secure enough. Corsair have some similar devices which use the same basic chipset, but have the theoretical issue of using a smaller keypad which means that the PIN isn't as strong, and the more serious issue of being a bit big and ugly for roughly the same money. Most products use ClevX's Datalock as their basic building block, so the security has been done by people who know what they're doing. Edit to add: the keypad-based Kingston products like the DataTraveller 2000 are (as a quick look at them will show you) a rebranded version of the iStorage product: Kingston haven't even just integrated the ClevX stuff themselves, it's the same enclosure too. They are, I think, the iStorage "Pro" range (USB 3.0, AES XTS) but you don't get the CESG assurance certificate. No-one outside government needs this level of assurance: the iStorage not-Pro is 20 quid less, sacrificing only USB 3.0 and XTS (CBC is perfectly sound), and much cheaper if you only want 4GB, and the iStorage Personal range is fifty quid cheaper for 16GB and the 8gb version is sixty quid cheaper. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 407
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It behaves exactly like an ordinary memory stick once it's had the PIN put into it.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,623
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Just got a Kingston Datatraveler Locker+ G3 which has 32gb space for £25 via Amazon. Other sizes were available (£16 for a 16gb one IIRC).
As others above, first time you use it you set a password. Then each time you put it into the USB port you click the icon to enter the password and the encrypted drive then opens in file explorer and behaves just like other flash drives for accessing files. No need to keep entering the password and can do all the normal file manipulation stuff as if it wasn't encrypted. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 407
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Quote:
Just got a Kingston Datatraveler Locker+ G3.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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That's fine with me. Will only be using it via Windows (7, 10, various recent server editions) for the foreseeable.
For others they'll have to fork out for the relatively expensive alternatives with the keypad built into the stick for the password entry, so not reliant on compatible OS for running the password program. Simple choice really. |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Darn Sarf
Posts: 28,723
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People could just use Truecrypt with Windows 7 (or a fork for 8/10) - your common or garden criminal won't be able to crack them and if GCHQ or the NSA really want to get you, they'll get you whatever you do.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2,215
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Quote:
Just got a Kingston Datatraveler Locker+ G3 which has 32gb space for £25 via Amazon. Other sizes were available (£16 for a 16gb one IIRC).
As others above, first time you use it you set a password. Then each time you put it into the USB port you click the icon to enter the password and the encrypted drive then opens in file explorer and behaves just like other flash drives for accessing files. No need to keep entering the password and can do all the normal file manipulation stuff as if it wasn't encrypted. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: South Wales/Gran Canaria
Posts: 8,294
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Argos are selling SanDisk USB3 drives which are password protected. Cheap as chips these days too.
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