Kingston IronKey Locker+50 G2
pros and cons
- Military-grade encryption
- Built-in brute-force protection
- Starts at only $50.
- USB-A connector, so it needs a dock or converter for modern systems
- Cap is easily lost
- No lanyard.
on Google.
Carrying data around on unencrypted drives is just asking for trouble. Lose the drive, and not only are you down the device, but also all its data is open to anyone who finds it. If you run a business, this loss can be a fast track to fines and regulatory headaches. I recommend that anyone who needs a flash storage device should use hardware-encrypted flash drives.
With this approach, if you lose the drive, you’re only down the drive.
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For the past few weeks, I’ve been testing the Kingston IronKey Locker+50 G2 flash drive
Hardware vs. software encryption
OK, so the IronKey Locker+50 G2 is a hardware-encrypted USB flash drive. This device is different from drives that use software encryption because, rather than using software to protect the data, which comes with the risk that data is left unencrypted on the drive or that remnants of cached files could be accessed, hardware encryption uses a special chip inside the drive that makes sure that the entire user-writable part of the device is always protected.
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Without the password, no one can access anything. And as soon as the drive is unmounted, everything is securely encrypted.
Hardware encryption is completely independent of the host system, making the drive less vulnerable to malware or hacking attempts. That’s why I generally vouch for hardware-level security in addition to software encryption.
Military-grade security
The encryption used here is 256-bit AES-XTS, a military-grade level of protection that encrypts data and adds tamper resistance. You plug the drive in (Windows and Mac supported), run the IronKey application, enter the passcode, and then the main storage partition is decrypted. Unmount or unplug the drive, and the data is instantly secured.
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Notably, the drive features brute-force protection. Say someone has shoulder-surfed part of your passcode and decided to guess the rest. They’ll get 10 guesses before the drive wipes the encryption keys stored on the drive. Their failure would make the data completely inaccessible.
I tried it with my IronKey, and all the test data stored on the drive was formatted the moment I entered the 10th password attempt. That data was gone. Forever.
I always have a dock on my laptop bag for such occasions.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
That cap that covers the USB-A connector is something I’ll have lost by the end of the month. I wish there were something to keep the cap attached to the drive.
The drive has a lanyard hole, but no lanyard, which is a bit of a cost-saving fail in my opinion.
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These minor gripes aside, I think that the IronKey Locker+50 G2 is a great flash drive for the modern world.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Kingston offers the IronKey Locker+50 G2, 64GB, and 256GB
Source : ZDNet