Your data is at risk from prying eyes. This USB drive will help keep it safe

September 20, 2023

`Your data is at risk from prying eyes. This USB drive will help keep it safe`

Tech

Why you can trust ZDNET : ZDNET independently tests and researches products to bring you our best recommendations and advice. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Our process

‘ZDNET Recommends’: What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET’s editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.

Home Tech Security

Your data is at risk from prying eyes. This USB drive will help keep it safe

From a rugged build to a complex passphrase mode, Kingston’s IronKey is one of the most secure USBs you can buy.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer on

Kingston IronKey D500S.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Carrying around unencrypted data on flash drives is asking for trouble. Losing a flash drive is bad enough, but having that data fall into the wrong hands could be an absolute disaster.

Also: Worried about iPhone 12 radiation? Here’s what you need to know

It therefore makes sense to not only encrypt your data, but to use flash drives that do more than just allow you to store unencrypted data on them.

And that’s where we can turn to the Kingston IronKey D500S, which is a robust, military-grade flash drive that offers the best possible protection for your data to help keep it safe from prying eyes.

ZDNET RECOMMENDS

Kingston IronKey D500S

The Kingston IronKey D500S USB is a military-grade security flash drive that is FIPS 140-3 Level 3 (Pending) certified and features upgrades for stronger security and attack protections for government and military uses.

View at Amazon

Kingston IronKey D500S specs

8 – 512GB capacities
USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface
XTS-AES 256-bit encryption
FIPS 140-3 Level 3 (pending) certified
Brute force and BadUSB attack protection
Rugged zinc casing built to toughest standards
Multi-password option with complex/passphrase modes
Industry-first Dual Hidden Partition option
Crypto-erase password
Waterproof up to 1.2 meters

Externally, the IronKey D500S looks like a rather bulky flash drive. Built with a ruggedized zinc casing, it’s designed to take knocks and even immersion in water. The case is also the first line of defense against data being accessed. The internals of the drive are encased in epoxy, which provides a physical barrier against tampering.

A serial number and barcode are laser-etched into the casing of the drive, which means the device can’t be surreptitiously swapped for another drive in the event of loss or in a situation where someone tries to infiltrate an organization with a rogue storage device.

Laser etched casing with serial number is another security feature — Laser-etched casing with serial number is another security feature.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

On the inside, the IronKey D500S is just as well engineered for security. On boot-up, the drive scans for over-temperature or voltage conditions that will lead to drive shutdown, and it has digitally signed firmware, which makes it immune to BadUSB malware and brute force attacks. Brute force, password-attack protection is always enabled to prevent password-guessing techniques. Too many failed attempts will result in the drive being crypto-erased.

Losing the password means data is locked away for good, so the IronKey D500S supports up to three passwords: an admin, user, and one-time recovery. The admin can reset a user password, and also enable a one-time recovery password to restore access to data if the user password is forgotten. That’s a nice touch.

Also: Buying an iPhone 15 but still want your Lightning port? Apple’s got a dongle for you

On the password front, the IronKey D500S supports a traditional, complex password and a passphrase mode. Traditional, complex passwords can be between eight and 16 characters, using three out of four character sets. while passphrases can be ten to 128 characters.

There’s also an industry-first feature on the IronKey D500S in the form of a Dual Hidden Partition option. This feature allows an admin to create two, custom-sized secure partitions for the admin and user, allowing for a Hidden File Store that can be accessed by both admin and user.

The IronKey D500S also supports two read-only/write-protected modes. These modes can be set per session to protect the drive from malware on untrusted systems, or the admin can set a global read-only mode that sets the drive to read-only mode until it is reset.

Logging into the IronKey D500S — Logging in to the IronKey D500S.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

On the performance front, Kingston says you can expect the following speeds (which vary depending on interface and model):

USB 3.2 Gen 1

8GB – 128GB: 260MB/s read, 190MB/s write
256GB: 240MB/s read, 170MB/s write
512GB: 310MB/s read, 250MB/s write

USB 2.0

8GB – 512GB: 30MB/s read, 20MB/s write

I tested the 128GB drive using MiniTool Partition Wizard and got very good performance. These are fast drives.

128GB IronKey D500S benchmark using MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

The Kingston IronKey D500S is offered in capacities that range from 8GB to 512GB, and prices start from $75. The IronKey D500S is a solid, reliable, and robust drive that’s easy to set up and configure. Once you’re up and running, all you need is the password and you can be sure that no one else is accessing your data.