In this table we would like to compare USB flash drives with embedded encryption and security features.
For the time being we have tested and compared 4 devices: IronKey Personal S200 1GB, BioSlimDisk Signature 2GB (2009 year model), Kanguru Defender 1GB and Kingston DataTraveler Vault 2GB.
The comparison matrix contains 2 tables:
Device features
| Device Name | Hardware | Firmware updates | Authentication | Launcher | Win/Mac/Linux | water proof | Hardware tamper resistant |
| BioslimDisk Signature | Biometric + Hardware Encryption AES256 |
– | Dual-fingerprint authentication only, Admin +user |
– | +/+/+ | + | + |
| IronKey S200 |
Hardware Encryption AES256 |
+ | Password, device itself for online account. |
+ |
+/+/+ | + |
+ |
| Kanguru Defender | Hardware Encryption AES256 |
+ | Password | + | +/+/+ | + | N/A |
| Kingston DataTraveler Vault | Hardware Encryption AES256 |
– | Password |
+ | +/+/+ | + | N/A |
Security features (provided by the device or software part)
| Device Name | Password reset | Open Partition | Additional software | Password reminder | Self destruct after # failed password entry | Read-only mode | Auto-lock device after inactivity timeout | Minimum password length | Virtual keyboard | Multi- user access | Remote Control |
| BioslimDisk Signature 2Gb |
+ | – | – | – | 7*3, completely destroy device | – | – | – | – | +, 8 fingerprints | – |
| IronKey S200 1GB |
– | – |
PKCS#11, password manager, |
+ |
10, completely destroy device |
+, and autorun.inf protection |
+ | – | + | $ | $ |
| Kanguru Defender 1GB |
+ | – | $ | – | 10, | + | $ |
8,$ |
– | $ |
$ |
| Kingston DataTraveler Vault | + | + | – |
+ | 10, locks private zone |
– | – | + | – | – | – |
$ – means that the feature is available as a paid option via additional software add-on or Administration ToolKit.
Backup
As we have already mentioned in several of our articles if you keep your so much precious data on USB flash drive it’s strongly recommended to back it up as often as possible. Rohos Mini Drive would be a perfect solution in this case. Using this small user-friendly freeware you may create virtual container on your HDD and password protect personal data. Thus your data is double protected – on the Hardware Encrypted USB flash drive and you have its backup on Rohos Mini Drive partition.
Download now Rohos Mini Drive
Photos: