The Cryptex USB flash drive seen on the right was made by a Russian man who goes by the alias of “Tarator”.  He deigned the USB flash drive on AutoCAD and then had it fabricated from metal, it is therefore a real working Cryptex as opposed to a USB shell concept.  It resembles a smaller version of the Cryptex used in the Dan Browne book and film “Da Vinci Code”, yet, we’d say that a USB stick was a much more rewarding prize than a piece of paper.  Forgetting the code could be quite annoying especially if your presentation is saved on it or you’re in a rush to have the information saved and you can’t get it opened.

These USB flash drives would certainly make an impact for any company if given out as a promotional gift with their own clues and passwords.  They would be especially suitable for a security company or a software data encryption company.  This flash drive design however, is not available to the public and it is currently unknown whether or not it will be taken to production.

Unfortunately USB2U don’t sell a Cryptex USB flash drive or even a puzzle flash drive however, we do offer a password protection service on the data pre-loaded onto logo USB memory sticks.

You can restrict access to any data you load onto your flash drives by protecting use of the flash drive with a password. We can set the password to anything you want during the manufacture process or we can leave it set to a standard “default” password that the user will be prompted to change on first use.  So how does it work? When a user accesses the USB Flash drive, they are presented with a padlock icon. When this is clicked the user is prompted to enter a password. It’s as simple and secure as that!

If this isn’t enough protection for the information that you want storing on your branded USB flash drives then we would suggest trying to replicate the Cryptex USB memory stick.  Good luck!

If you’re using memory sticks as a way of distributing speakers’ notes and slides at a conference or seminar then it’s a must. No question, audiences at most seminars will be hoping for a USB memory stick with everything neatly stored on it rather than having to make their way home weighed down with a mass of paper.

It makes sense for you as well as the giver. By loading your files/data onto the memory stick you don’t have the printing costs and overheads. You don’t have to worry about making deadlines at the printers, it matters less if your speaker notes are delivered a little later than hoped for and you also don’t have to haul tons of printed-papers to your event.

But there are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself before you load data onto your branded USB Memory sticks:

1. Do you want the recipient of the branded USB memory stick to be able to delete your data from the stick?If you don’t want the data deleted then you need to get the data loaded during the manufacturing process and “locked” on the stick. The downside with this is that you need to plan it and ensure you have factored the delivery of the data to the factory before the memory sticks are manufactured. There can be no last minute additions and you won’t be able to delete anything either. So for example if your CEO decides at the last minute he wants to change the content on the pre-loaded memory sticks he/you won’t be able to.But, if you’re not worried about the data being deleted by the user after its been read then last minute changes are easy albeit time consuming.
2. Do you need to safeguard the pre-loaded data from falling into the wrong hands?If the information you have pre-loaded onto the memory sticks is confidential then you might want to consider encrypting and password protecting it. Again this can be done during manufacture and you have two basic options. One option is to simply prevent access to the data by means of a password challenge. The more sophisticated option is to protect access to the data by password but also to encrypt (scramble) any saved data.
3. After you’ve loaded your data is there enough space left on the USB memory stick for the recipient to use it?If one of your objectives is to have your branded USB memory sticks used and as a consequence your brand promoted you need to leave a enough space on the memory stick for the user to add their own files. Particularly important if you have “locked” your own files on the memory stick so they cannot be deleted.

Finally remember that data loading done post manufacture is time consuming so whilst there are real benefits in doing it please plan ahead.

1. Try to minimise the risk of this happening in the first place. Ensure your Custom USB supplier provides you with screen grabs of the data for sign off. Ideally ask for a pre-production sample of your Branded USB Memory sticks with the data preload. This way there little risk of any issues in the future.
2. If the data is not protected or has an autorun. Then there are some easy solutions:
   
   • Delete the data from the memory sticks and re-load. Doing these individually is a painful and slow process and is not recommended for batches of over 100 units, unless you have an army of people to throw at this. This process is also prone to quality issues.
   
   • There are several data duplication companies in the UK that can take the Branded Memory sticks and format and reload the data relatively easily and quickly.  They can process up to 3000 memory sticks within a few hours. Job done.
3. The nightmare scenario! If the memory sticks are data-protected or have an autorun it becomes far more complex. No surprise, as by the very nature the Promotional USB Memory Sticks are engineered to stop end users doing exactly what you want to do, namely delete and change the data. The software required to do this will be dependant on the controller that the Branded Memory Stick has been loaded with. The controller is the mini operating system that all USB Memory sticks have. Again there are several options to resolve this.
   
   • Return back to the manufacturer. They have the technology to format and reload the data, but the downside is that it will take time to return to the Far East, get them reloaded and shipped back. You would need to allow up to 2 weeks for this.
   
   • Some USB Providers will have the software to allow the data to be deleted in the UK. If not, ask them to try to obtain from the manufacturer. This would allow them to delete the data. Then the next challenge would be reloading the data. The easiest thing to do would be to load the new data with no protection or an autorun. However, if this is a pre-requisite then there are a few UK Data Duplication companies that have the capabilities of loading the data with copy protection and autorun. Again this will be dependant on the controller that is on the Branded USB Memory Drive.

The moral of this story is to ensure that you minimise the risk of this happening, by having a pre-production sample produced. Otherwise you will be entering a very stressful process and that towel will continue to get wetter!