Verbatim Builds Security into USB Flash Drives

With an eye toward the enterprise, Verbatim includes hardware encryption and password protection in its new flash drives.

Verbatim is launching a new line of USB flash drives with built-in security features that the company hopes will appeal to enterprises.

The Charlotte, N.C., storage maker said the new drives, called Store n Go Corporate Secure USB Flash Drives, will include "mandatory security features," such as a hardware-based AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) data encryption and anti-tamper password entry protection.

Securing data has become a hot-button issue of late, following several high-profile computer theft cases that exposed companies and or individuals data to potential theft. Thus, Verbatim added the security features with the aim of protecting the files stored on its drives, should one become lost or stolen.

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A users password is protected by an SHA-1 hashing algorithm that makes sure the password is not stored in a raw form in the drives memory, the company said. This type of mandatory protection ensures that the password cannot be lifted from a PCs memory by hackers, according to the company.

"To protect stored data from dictionary or brute-force hack attempts, the Store n Go Drive enters lock-down mode and securely erases all data after 10 consecutive failed log-in attempts," the company said in a statement.

The new Verbatim Corporate USB drives feature a controller that moves files at a rate of 14MB per second and has a maximum read speed of 23MB per second.

The Corporate USB drives will become available in September. A 1GB drive will be priced at $79, a 2GB drive at $129 and a 4GB drive at $269.

With the arrival of products such as Verbatims Store n Go, built-in encryption for storage devices appears to be gaining momentum. In June, the Trusted Computing Groups Storage Work Group announced that it is preparing a hardware-based data encryption technology standard that will allow hard drive makers to add encryption capabilities directly into their products.

Click here to read more about Trusted Computing Groups proposal for better security encryption.

Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on enterprise and small business storage hardware and software.

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