Your secret’s safe on USB drives
In the world of secrecy, one level is known as “eyes only,” where select people with high levels of clearance are given access to top secret information, but they’re only allowed to look at it for a limited time. No notepad, no flash drive copying, no digital voice recording allowed. This could be true or it could just be the stuff of spy novels because most of us don’t have “eyes only” access to verify this. But in the business world it’s also often a challenge to keep information about research or new products under wraps until the right time. What if it’s distributed to say, a marketing group on USB flash drives and someone loses the USB drive in a bar – to be found by reviewers? It could happen.
As it turns out, even USB drives have ways of keeping your secrets safe. Among several options is USB Safeguard that allows data to be encrypted, viewable only after password access. This portable application allows you to either encrypt an entire USB drive or just specific files – up to 2GB. And just in case a spy somewhere is recording your keystrokes, this portable app has a virtual keyboard. What cleverness, indeed. When an unauthorized person attempts to access the information the software can either destroy the information on the flash drive or refuse to give it up – and how does anyone interrogate a USB drive anyway?