Testing Results & Conclusion
We used the CipherUSB on a 2TB external harddrive, 8GB flash drive, and an external dvd burner, and the CipherUSB worked as advertised. Any and all newly entered data which included pictures, movies, and text documents were encrypted on our selected drives, and could not been seen without having the CipherUSB connected to any of them. Attempting to view the contents of the drives on the rig we used to create the password, or any other computer without the CipherUSB connected, resulted in the OS not recognizing the drives at all.
Additionally we only needed to set up the password once to have the CipherUSB work with all of the different drives used provided we first entered data onto the drives while the CipherUSB was connected. All content on the drives were accessed by only using the one CipherUSB device.
We weren’t able, however, to test the Cipher on a Mac based computer, but we are pretty certain given the results we obtained from our Windows based rig, that the Cipher would have no problem working on a Mac based OS.
The only draw back we observed is that any data on the drives prior to setting up the CipherUSB to use with it is lost, but can be recovered with data recovery software. Some would say that this is not a problem, but some may want to encrypt data that is already present in a drive they would like to use.
Conclusion
The CipherUSB is a great, and easy to use data encryption tool. No software needs to be installed. It’s pretty much, a plug, and play encryption solution. Well minus the initial password set up, but even then its something we feel many would consider a very convenient, and hassle free solution.
The only draw back with the Cipher some will say is that you will need to use it with a fresh drive, or format a drive that already contains data, and losing said data. Some may want an encryption option that would allow them to encrypt previously written data on a drive of their choice. To those people, we hear what you are saying, but in all honesty its not that bad of a trade off the CipherUSB offers.
The solution as a whole is easier to use and more user friendly then other data encryption solutions. No software installation is required to use the CipherUSB on either the main computer you created your data on, or on any other computer you plan on viewing the data on. This would be an appealing solution for business people who travel, and may need to use multiple laptops, desktops, or tablets to present data on drives. One CipherUSB can be used to encrypt data on multiple drives, and the cost of the CipherUSB averages $30 USD. With all those things to keep in mind, we feel that the CipherUSB is a pretty hard thing not to seriously consider trying out.
For all the positives we mentioned for the device, we are proud to give the CipherUSB Tehcreaction.net Gold Silicon Award!
Happy encrypting people!
