Encryption software is becoming a necessity for individuals and organizations where confidential data plays a critical role.
It is imperative for individuals to protect their identity when mobilizing their data whether on a computer, a hard drive, or a flash drive.
According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, companies are not required to disclose the loss of 256-bit AES encrypted data.
However, when unencrypted data is lost or exposed, companies are required to inform clients that are possibly affected by the loss.
Considering that hundreds of companies a year are ordered to pay millions of dollars in litigation and media fees, do you think it's important to encrypt your company's data?
128-bit Encryption
The large number of operations (2128) required to try all possible 128-bit keys is enormous. However, by U.S. government standards, this is not considered a 'secure' flash drive.
The following USB Flash Drives from ETC feature 128-bit AES Encryption:
256-bit Encryption
A 256-bit key requires not merely twice as long to crack as a 128-bit key, but rather 2128 times as long. If a device were created that could crack a billion billion (1018) AES keys per second, it would require 3,671,743,063,080,802,746,815,416,825,491,118,336,290,905,145,409,708 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space. 128-bit keys are impractical to attack by brute force methods using current technology; however, 256-bit keys are not likely to be broken by brute force methods using any obvious future technology.
The following USB Flash Drives from ETC feature 256-bit AES Encryption:
448-bit Blowfish Encryption
Blowfish is a symmetric encryption algorithm designed as an alternative to existing encryption algorithms, such as DES and AES.
Blowfish encryption utilizes a powerful 64-bit cipher in which a cryptographic key and algorithm are applied to a block of data rather than to single bits.
A 448-bit encryption key is 2.1 x 1096 times stronger than a 128-bit encryption key.
The following USB Flash Drives from ETC features 448-bit Blowfish Encryption: