Another gadget I’d buy in a snap if I had limitless cash is the IronKey - A USB thumb drive built for the security conscious among us. It’s a shocking truth that I currently don’t have a thumb drive at all (my last one snapped at the end and is currently floating somewhere in a desk drawer) and this is the very reason I’ve been looking for a new one with a decent capacity and strong enough for me to pull my keys out of my pocket with!
I generally used the drive for useful applications that saved me from trying to download them on a computer with a slow (or non existing) Internet connection, such as Firefox or a decent FTP client. I also used it to store security related applications - the kind that most anti-virus software would prevent you from running!
With greater capacity I could also use this for photos and video, which would mean showcasing my photography would be easy, or watching the latest episode of Heroes on any available computer would become possible (assuming I had the DivX installater on the drive too!)
I have to say that none of the above uses really demand security on the drive, but it always pays to think of securing your files. The device is military grade, which is a bit overkill - 10 incorrect password attempts to access the data (it’s all encrypted) and the chip self destructs!
I may have to order this at the same time as my Mandylion Password Manager, as the two products would work well together - use the Mandylion to store the IronKey’s password and manage the reminders for when it should be changed.
I also like that the drive comes with a secure version of Firefox, which basically proxies through IronKey’s servers so that your traffic is encrypted and anonymous - always a plus when using a workstation you don’t own and also useful for anyone trapped behind a corporate proxy server.
One downside is that they’re currently not supported by Mac or Linux but apparently drivers are in development, but overall I this is certainly on my wishlist.
Have a look at:
http://www.truecrypt.org/
for something that is very secure. Even run it on your normal desktop to store important documentation etc.
(Windows/Linux support)
And then for applications that do not need to write to the registry etc..
http://portableapps.com/
(Making linux applications portable is easy)
Any ext-hdd/thumb-drive will do.
Hope that helps a little.
Thanks. I’ve heard of the Portable Apps before but yet to look into it. Maybe a future post about them once I’ve tried it out…