Articles about USB flash drive

Although the cyber threat landscape rarely stands still, some age-old attack vectors will continue to be revisited by cyber criminals. For example, the cyber security risks of removable media -- which have persisted for years -- are presenting fresh challenges for security teams. 

This is because, thanks to its convenience and cost, removable media remains a cornerstone of the operations of critical national infrastructure (CNI) sectors. Devices such as USB drives are used by CNI operators and their third-party service partners to handle sensitive data, perform physical data transfer, and carry out vital operational tasks such as firmware updates in air-gapped networks. 

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Kioxia has announced its new TransMemory U304 series of USB flash drives. One of the key attributes of the TransMemory U304 series is the slide-click mechanism that allows users to extend and retract the USB-A connector with a single push. This feature includes an auto-return mechanism that retracts the connector automatically once disconnected, helping to prevent damage during transport.

The U304 series comes in three color options: light blue, magenta, and black, offering users a choice based on their personal preference. Additionally, the flash drives are designed with a strap hole, allowing them to be easily attached to bags or keychains, which enhances portability and reduces the risk of losing the device.

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Windows installations benefit from fast hard drives, and installing Windows on USB Flash Drives may sound counter-intuitive on first glance. While it is true that dedicated hard drives, especially Solid State Drives, are better suited for running Windows, USB Flash drive Windows installations offer some features that these dedicated installations don’t.

Installation on a USB drive makes the Windows installation portable. You can connect it to different PCs and use it on these, provided that booting from USB is supported. One downside is that this works best with PCs that have the same hardware. This solution has other benefits; it can be used to boot a copy of Windows on a PC it was created on, even if the main hard drive is no longer available.

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We recently told you about the Kingston VP80ES IronKey Vault Privacy 80 -- a speedy portable SSD that features USB-C connectivity and a touchscreen for tapping-in a password or pin. While that drive is quite amazing, not everyone will truly need the fast speeds or touchscreen -- it could be overkill. Instead, a hardware-encrypted USB flash drive could be sufficient -- and much less expensive.

Today, Kingston launches its latest hardware-encrypted flash drive. Called "IronKey Vault Privacy 50 (VP50)," the drive uses a USB-A connector and is offered in capacities ranging from 8GB to 256GB. The VP50 features XTS-AES 256-bit encryption and is FIPS 197 certified.

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Everybody loves USB flash drives, so it's a good thing there's no shortage of them on the market. If you want a flash drive, you can absolutely find one in stores -- unlike baby formula. There are many makes and models of USB flash drives with various capacities and transfer speeds, but of course, not all of them are of good quality.

With all of that said, only one flash drive can truly be the coolest ever. Today, OWC launches a drive that could be the one. Called "Envoy Pro mini," it is a tiny portable SSD that offers both USB-C and USB-A connectivity. In other words, the high-quality drive will work with pretty much any computer. Best of all, the beautifully engineered USB drive looks to be built like a tank and offers very impressive performance of up to 946MB/s!

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