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Do you use a flash drive to carry important documents & files?

2

Comments

  • Sooler
    Sooler Posts: 3,114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Sorry,
    Not mean't for any advertising - but actually collecting view of users of such hardware devices and getting people to talk about their experiences.

    Faiz

    Are you using these forums for market research?, as it appears you’re using a business name you ought to declare your intent either way, shows your business in a bad light otherwise.

    Why mention you’ve got a solution? Who needs to know that?
  • steveeeee
    steveeeee Posts: 409 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I use an FTP server to access my files at home. For transferring large amounts of data I'll use my MP3 player (30GB hard drive).
  • millwalll
    millwalll Posts: 912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I think the fact of the matter is nothing is 100% safe and if someone wants the information that bad will find a way around it. I have Loads flash drives and I don't have any security. I think the best security is yourself and not losing it in the first place.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • wolfman
    wolfman Posts: 3,225 Forumite
    millwalll wrote: »
    I think the best security is yourself and not losing it in the first place.

    No, no, no. Never rely on yourself. You may not lose the data, but some may still try and get at it.

    Flash drives are very handy. I don't carry much on mine, but it's useful when I can't access my files at home. I use a Shuffle as my flash drive so it performs two purposes.

    For security, TrueCrypt is a great portable app. It sets up an encrypted volume within my flash drive. I've gone a bit overkill on mine. The chances of the encryption being broken are bordering impossible. The easiest way would be for someone to find out my 28 character alpha-numeric password.

    Within my TrueCrypt volume I keep Firefox (and my Firefox profile) a few useful documents, any work, code example etc...


    With regards to accessing my files at home. I try not to use straight ftp, as this is an insecure protocol. I'll either try to use sftp, or even better connect via SSH and then ftp in.
    "Boonowa tweepi, ha, ha."
  • Hi Wolfman,
    Spoken like a true security expert .. ;)
    So, what are your views on biometric (fingerprint ID) flash drives? I've got one comment on here saying that they can be broken into - (considering it's AES-256 bit encryption ... :)

    Faiz
    wolfman wrote: »
    No, no, no. Never rely on yourself. You may not lose the data, but some may still try and get at it.

    Flash drives are very handy. I don't carry much on mine, but it's useful when I can't access my files at home. I use a Shuffle as my flash drive so it performs two purposes.

    For security, TrueCrypt is a great portable app. It sets up an encrypted volume within my flash drive. I've gone a bit overkill on mine. The chances of the encryption being broken are bordering impossible. The easiest way would be for someone to find out my 28 character alpha-numeric password.

    Within my TrueCrypt volume I keep Firefox (and my Firefox profile) a few useful documents, any work, code example etc...


    With regards to accessing my files at home. I try not to use straight ftp, as this is an insecure protocol. I'll either try to use sftp, or even better connect via SSH and then ftp in.
  • nullogik
    nullogik Posts: 467 Forumite
    Yes, I carry important documents around but I make sure they are encrypted in case I loose the device.

    I also carry around a password carrier with me, but that too is encrypted using AES and Twofish.
    Lack of money is the root of all evil.
    George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
  • Our company has securewave software installed and they can monitor what you copy to and from your memory stick as well as what you are accessing from the device.

    See link: http://www.securewave.com/usb_security.jsp
  • chaddy7604
    chaddy7604 Posts: 20,469 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    nullogik wrote: »
    Yes, I carry important documents around but I make sure they are encrypted in case I loose the device.

    I also carry around a password carrier with me, but that too is encrypted using AES and Twofish.

    Don't you find the Twofish begin to smell after a while?:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
  • wolfman
    wolfman Posts: 3,225 Forumite
    Hmm I've not had a huge amount of experience with them so can't really say.

    I did study the technology at university, but my only experience was using my old IMB laptop which had a biometric scanner for logging in. To be honest I found it more of a convenience than additional security. Actually I say convenience loosely as it didn't always work first (or by the third) time.

    I'm very much into technology though so remembering long password doesn't bother me too much. For the average joe, they usually set weak passwords and never change them. In such a case a biometric scanner may be preferable. As I mentioned though I don't have a huge amount of experience with them, especially in terms of them being secure/unbreakable.
    "Boonowa tweepi, ha, ha."
  • Cool,
    That takes care of the monitoring - but doesn't help the case if the media is lost, stolen or falls into the wrong hands though does it?

    Faiz
    Our company has securewave software installed and they can monitor what you copy to and from your memory stick as well as what you are accessing from the device.

    See link: http://www.securewave.com/usb_security.jsp
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