5 Quick Questions and Answers on Secure USB Flash Drives

Administrators at larger organizations face many of the same challenges when it comes to USB security. Solving “the USB problem” has become a critical issue and is at the top the agenda for most enterprise and government organization. Emerging threats like the Conficker that attacked unsecure USB sticks added to sense of urgency already present.

This post will briefly touch on some of the most common challenges for an IT administrator. The answers explain how our SafeStick secure USB flash with SafeConsole the central management console can assist corporations with portable storage.

1. Can we enforce password and storage policies with this solution?

SafeStick will ensure that your decided policy is upheld. The user is prompted on first usage to select a password. The password rules for the policy can easily be set up in SafeConsole. Using the FileBlocker feature in SafeConsole it is possible to ban storage of unauthorized executables and other file formats such as MP3.

2. Security is fine. But is it easy to use and will it always work?

Usability is always in the focus of BlockMaster development. This means that SafeStick has unique support for handling network drives and requires no installations or admin rights. Network drives are known to case trouble with USB devices that have multiple drives (often presented as CD-rom drive and storage drive). The problem presents itself as a conflict between drives which means that the secure drive is unable to mount to the system. SafeStick will always work if a standard single USB flash drive works. It only requires two drive letters to be available from A-Z. The SafeStick technology to solving the network drive conflicts is unique.

3. What if my users forget the password to SafeStick and they have critical data stored?

Users will forget their password. Three options are available.
1. Either you first enable Password Recovery in the SafeConsole then you will be able to perform a remote password reset without losing data through a secure challenge response procedure that is unique for your organization.

2. The ZoneBuilder in SafeConsole can be configured to automatically unlock the user SafeStick drive once he is authenticated to his Windows User Account using certificate security. ZoneBuilder is normally used to setup trusted workgroups (zones) which enable a project team to share data without sharing the private password. If ZoneBuilder is activated for automatic unlock on the user account it can prompt the user to change his forgotten password. No data will be lost and the procedure is completely self-service once setup.

3. If SafeConsole has not been deployed the user has the option to Reset the device, meaning that SafeStick will factory reset and all stored data will be wiped and the encryption keys renewed.

It is often a good idea to have SafeConsole deployed in a enterprise setting.

4. Will this solution cause a lot of support cases?

No. It is very low in support and there is a very low error rate on the SafeStick hardware since it uses the highest quality components. With SafeStick the security is always on, there is no way of misusing the product. The usage of SafeStick is basically self explanatory and there is no need for end-user training. A instructional card (credit card size) is included and this is normally all that is needed. The software is contained on the device itself and seldom causes problems. This should be compared with software encryption solution that are usually support intense and not easy to work with.

5. Can the solution be updated (patched) and is there ongoing development?

Yes the SafeStick drives can be updated in the field using a self-contained executable. There is also the option of updating SafeStick drives in a enterprise setting with an msi. BlockMaster is continuous developing both SafeStick and SafeConsole, the roadmap is extensive and we always strive to be positioned as an innovator. We work with our technology partners to ensure that our customers are always provided with the best product possible.

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