IronKey S1000 protected USB force evaluation: Storage Devices Review

IronKey S1000 protected USB force evaluation

It’s just a USB stick in the end however it’s exhausting to not assume that IronKey’s S1000 is an object of technological attractiveness.

Perhaps that’s an exaggeration however we did word when masking the product release in February 2015 that the S1000 has ascended to the standing of a vintage design. Secure USB sticks are ten-a-penny in this day and age, nearly each and every vital garage distributors has one, however the easy steel IronKey design remains to be arguably the most productive. It’s additionally appeared like this since first showing in 2008, which says one thing about its reputation.

We additionally raised a more difficult query about serve as – do companies nonetheless need USB keys when cloud sharing services and products be offering a more effective and perhaps extra manageable answer for making essential recordsdata obtainable?

Cloud garage has its personal complications equivalent to compliance however we’re nonetheless now not certain whether or not a bodily USB key will win many new coverts in 2015. The enterprises the usage of them almost definitely all the time have used them and the IronKey and its rugged FIPS 140-2 Level 3 system remains to be king.

As it occurs, the IronKey Enterprise Management server used to manage the S100 Enterprise will also be cloud-based or on-premises. As with earlier variations (together with the established D250), this permits a lot of parameters to be password set by means of coverage, together with minimal password energy, the collection of retries allowed and on which methods drives can be utilized.

Importantly, customers too can self-provision drives, together with the facility to safely get well misplaced or forgotten passwords.

Once deployed, drives will also be remotely disabled or even destroyed to the level that the on-board encryption chip will now not serve as.

Physically, the S1000 is shock-resistant to army requirements, options USB 3.zero, and makes use of dual-channel MLC flash chips that may be written to at a claimed 400MB/sec with a longevity expectancy for repeated use. The encryption is XTS-AES 256-bit acceleration.

Using it's easy. Plugging it in brings up an unlcoker display at the PC (all variations of Windows, OS X and Linux 2.6), into which the password is entered. On the standalone model a couple of settings will also be configured equivalent to a safety timeout length in addition to new passwords.

Two small problems we noticed. First, the period and measurement of this software signifies that when used with a pc it stands proud in some way that dangers being by accident knocked. When left in for a couple of hours it additionally grew strangely heat, a result of its heat-conducting steel case.

The different factor is worth. The standalone ‘Basic’ 8GB model prices round £150 plus VAT on a one-off foundation, which makes it a expert acquire even for organisations that price the safety and compliance on be offering. Even with quantity reductions and a control server license the S1000 Enterprise isn't one thing each and every worker will finally end up being provided with.

 A complete comparability of the other IronKey USB drives will also be discovered right here.

OUR VERDICT

An pricey and outwardly out of date protected USB stick that justifies its value with stellar security measures together with ruggedness (together with being water-resistant) and intensive faraway control. Another enchantment is that the platform is mature - its designers have considered the whole lot. There are many lion cubs on this marketplace however just one lion king.