Keeping Flash Drives Secure

Keeping Flash Drives Secure

My USB flash drives (or thumb drives, flash drives or whatever you may call them!) are really handy, but also really easy to misplace. Is there a way to protect the files if (or when) I lose it?

The good news about USB drives is that you can inexpensively store many gigabytes of files in a small, convenient device; the bad news is you can easily lose that small, convenient device. If you are using your drive for storing any kind of information you don’t want shared all across the world , you need to consider your security options.

If you the files you are keeping on the drive are Microsoft Office files, you can password protect those files so they can only be opened by you or someone else that knows the password. In Office 2007, the Tools button is in the lower left-hand corner of the Save window, and you’ll need to select General Options to enter your desired password.

Now every time the document is opened, it will require entering the password. You need to write down this password – you cannot recover it if you forget it! (I speak from personal experience on this.)

While this works for Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files, it is kind of cumbersome if you have a lot of documents, and you may be storing other kinds of files.

If you plan ahead, you can purchase USB drives that have password security built in (or even fingerpint scanners!). If you search online vendors with the term “secure usb drive,” you will find quite a few options that cost only a few dollars more than a standard drive. (Most seem to be for Windows only, so this may not be a solution for Mac users.)