As USB flash drives continue to gain notoriety for a variety of security risks, including the spread of malware, three companies have partnered to develop a new device that carries on-board antivirus as well as encryption and password protection.

Through this initiative, Kingston Digital's enterprise-class DT4000 and DTVP flash drives can be customized with ClevX's DriveSecurity, powered by ESET's antivirus technology.

"Workers have become increasingly mobile, and often want to carry data between their company computers and the computers that they have at home," said John Terpening, secure USB business manager at Kingston. "But issues around loss of data, as well as the risk of malware infections, have caused a host of problems, including compliance-related fines, loss of intellectual property and damage to reputations."

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Terpening also noted that USB drives served as the primary mechanism for the spread of the Stuxnet worm, particularly in operations aimed at derailing the Iranian nuclear initiatives. Removable media also served as a data exfiltration vector supporting the Flame virus. Therefore, market demands for enhanced security have been growing steadily.

The DataTraveler 4000 is a FIPS 140-2 validated device with 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption and password protection code that locks down the device and destroys the encryption key after 10 intrusion attempts. The Data Traveler Vault Privacy Edition (DTVP) flash drive provides many the same features, including 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption and lockdown with key destruction after 10 failed attempts, but is not FIPS validated.

"When the end-user initializes, they need to set a password at which point the AV engine will contact the server, initialize the license and start protection," said Terpening. "The solution is easy to deploy and does not require a management console or the need to track licenses and renewals. It's based on a three-year license, which is typically the life of the drive, although we do offer a five-year warranty."

The system also executes hourly updates to the AV signatures when an Internet connection is available.

Prices for the 4-GB versions start at $57 for the DTVP device with antivirus protection and $75 for the Data Traveler 4000 device with antivirus, both with immediate availability. The AV license is an incremental $15 per user for a three-year license.

PUBLISHED DEC. 11, 2012