Fountain Valley, CA—Kingston Digital expanded its flash drive portfolio with the flagship Kingston IronKey D500S. The new hardware-encrypted USB flash drive provides military-grade security for data in transit. Kingston Digital, Inc., is the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
“The flagship D500S with FIPS 140-3 Level 3 (pending) offers more features than any other drive in its class. D500S upgrades the IronKey D300S with state-of-the-art security making for a complete security solution for high-value data protection for larger enterprises and governments,” said Richard Kanadjian, IronKey global business manager, Kingston. “IronKey has become an essential pillar to meeting Data Loss Protection (DLP) best practices with the toughest military-grade security for compliance with data encryption laws and regulations.”
Kingston IronKey D500S Features
The D500S is FIPS 140-3 Level 3 (pending) certified. It boasts new enhancements from NIST requiring secure microprocessor upgrades for stronger security and attack protections for government and military use. The drive self-tests upon bootup and includes thermal and voltage protection to automatically shut down when a certain threshold is reached.
In addition, the drive is IP67-rated waterproof; dustproof; shock and vibration resistant to military standards; as well as crush resistant. It also will operate in temperatures of 32°F–122°F. Moreover, its epoxy-filled zinc casing protects internal components from penetration attacks.
What’s more, its multi-password option with complex or passphrase mode allows you to take ownership over your data. It makes it easier to remember the password to unlock the stringent security. You can make the passphrases complete sentences or multiple words that only you remember, from 10 to 128 characters long. An eye symbol for all entered passwords helps reduce typos. Additionally, the admin can reset a user password and enable a one-time recovery password to restore access should the user password be forgotten.
Both the admin and user can set a session-based read-only mode to protect the drive from malware on untrusted systems. Further, the admin can set a global read-only mode until reset. Additionally, to keep data from getting into the wrong hands, the admin can enter a crypto-erase password that will destroy the data and reset the drive to prevent unauthorized access in compromising situations.
The D500S also includes other features found in the Kingston IronKey lineup. They comprise XTS-AES 256-bit encryption; protection from BadUSB and Brute Force attacks with digitally signed firmware; as well as virtual keyboard for keylogger and screen-logger protection.
Customization Options
In addition, the D500S boasts the first dual-partition option. The admin can create two custom-sized secure partitions for the admin and user. This allows for a hidden file store they can use to provision files to the user partition as needed. When using untrusted systems or sharing the drive, the hidden file stores keep data secure and invisible unless properly accessed.
The flash drive also offers other customization options. You can enable, disable as well as modify drive features and profiles. Plus, the drives are TAA/CMMC compliant and assembled in the USA. Available in fast dual channel performance with capacities up to 512GB, the thumb drives are also backed by a five-year warranty with free technical support.
More Specs
The D500S has Type-A connector and uses a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface. It achieves the following operational speeds.
USB 3.2 Gen 1
▪ 8GB –128GB: 240MB/s read, 190MB/s write
▪ 256GB: 240MB/s read, 170MB/s write
▪ 512B: 310MB/s read, 250MB/s write
USB 2.0
▪ 8GB –512GB: 30MB/s read, 20MB/s write
The compact flash drive comes in the following capacities: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB.
