An encrypted USB drive is simply the  most secure device for your data. Remember the data that mobile personnel carry around with them is confidential, valuable and desirable. And using anything other then an encrypted USB drive expands risk unnecessarily. Issuing any other flash drive except for an encrypted USB drive exposes not only your flash drive, your operating system but your company to many levels of attacks that ultimately could lead to the compromising of valuable and confidential data. Think about this also: damage control once your system data has been compromised is expensive. All of these risks can be virtually eliminated by simply using an encrypted USB drive like the ones produced by SanDisk and refusing to utilize any other device which is less secure.

Features of an Encrypted USB Drive

An important feature of a secure USB drive must be ease of use. Medical, financial or sales personnel using the flash drives will want a unit that is functional and at the same time secure. A consideration will be transfer data rates. SanDisk Enterprise produces an encrypted USB drive with ultra-fast transfer rates of 24MB for reading and 20MB for writing. Files that are transferred are also partitioned in the encrypted USB drive for added security also. Units are available with up to 8GB capacity which is generally more then enough for individual users.

An encrypted USB drive should be independent from the operating system to prevent access from the outside with a virus or worm. The fact that an encrypted USB drive is independent of the operating system reduces the risk of a successful attempt to compromise or corrupt data. Being independent also means encryption keys are stored in the drive and not the operating system further reducing wide spread infiltration of data. A software program will also allow central access and control of  flash drives where an encrypted USB drive can be managed, data backed up or instantly terminated from a central server if the unit is compromised in any way.

Utilizing an Encrypted USB Drive Effectively

To begin with, make the decision that an encrypted USB drive will be the standard flash drive used by your company. Next, begin distributing a communication that only an encrypted USB drive issued by the company will be authorized for use. This will let everyone know the direction the company is moving and the use of unauthorized flash drives is prohibited. Purchase an encrypted USB drive like the ones offered by SunDisk Enterprise for issue to your mobile personnel. Maintain audits on the data that is downloaded to flash drives and have the ability to retrieve the data if it becomes necessary.

Using an encrypted USB drive will limit the opportunity for personnel to circumvent security measures and expose the company to increased risk through the exposure of confidential or proprietary data. If data is corrupted or compromised due to not using an encrypted USB drive there will be people looking for answers to why. The confidential data is not only valuable to the company it is valuable to clients and thieves alike who would like to exploit the data. And if compromise takes place then will come the damage control which is going to be very expensive and time consuming. An encrypted USB drive issued to personnel can save a great deal of money by preventing such a compromise of confidential data.