Why To Password-Protect Your USB Flash Drive?

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Regardless of what type of data you save on portable drives, it’s essential that you password-protect your portable data storage devices. Furthermore, it's a fact that security software developed by third parties is more reliable than software developed by manufacturers.

Portable drives such as USB flash drives have allowed people to enjoy a wide array of flexibility in terms of transporting data from one medium to another. These devices are capable of storing several gigabytes of data within a small device. With the introduction of portable hard-drives and flash drives, organizations also enjoyed a greater boost in workplace productivity.

Before these devices were introduced, users had to make use of CDs and DVDs by burning data on them, which not only had space limitations, but was also time consuming. Before that, floppy disks were the standard means of transferring data between mediums. Consequently, it’s not hard to see how the growing demand for data has given birth to portable storage devices. In the near future, it’s predicted that our data needs will be in the range of terabytes; consequently, a few manufacturers have already developed a flash drive which can store one terabyte of data.

However, as with all things in the world, there are pros and cons behind every entity. Thus, a flash drive’s portability is its biggest advantage as well as its disadvantage. That’s because data stored on such devices can be easily accessed by anyone if one ends losing their device.

Dejectedly, people almost always tend to disregard the safety of their identities by saving sensitive data on their devices. Documents such as resumes, tax-returns and e-statements are the perfect means for an identity thief to quickly utilize such information in order to effortlessly steal your identity. There’s no doubt that in today’s world, data is good as gold. Therefore, it’s no wonder why e-crime has risen to levels which have prompted several federal and state law enactments -- in order to curb and enforce this type of crime.  Sadly, people are still ignorant of their personal data’s actual worth. Once stolen, e-crooks can virtually rob you of your financial assets as well as steal your identity.

Don't Miss: Tips To Prevent Online Identity Theft!

Nonetheless, manufacturers of portable drives have realized that data theft through portable drives is a real problem facing millions of users worldwide. As a result, newer portable drives are already integrating their devices with encryption software, in order to deter unauthorized access of personal data. However, these devices can be three to four times more costly to purchase than a traditional flash drive, and most people don’t have the budget to purchase a device with such capability.

Thankfully, third-party data protection software has already been developed to password protect USB drives for devices that do not have built in data security features. What’s more, such software is considered more reliable and impossible to crack compared to data security software integrated by the manufacturers of a particular device. Third-party data fortification software usually downloads off the internet and can be installed directed onto any flash drive or portable hard-drive. Such software usually has a small footprint and requires only a few kilobytes of space, yet provides unbreakable password-protection on virtually all portable mediums, including Sony memory sticks, compact flash cards, and other similar devices.

You can use the following 4 Freeware softwares to password protect your USB Flash drive:



Author Bio:
Cara W Morris is Marketing Manager at New Softwares.net, An Information Security company that specializes in developing award winning data security software which can password protect USB.

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