New SanDisk USB Drives Protect Mobile Data

SanDisk Corp. on Monday introduced two new USB flash drives, Cruzer Professional and Cruzer Enterprise, which it said let businesses of all sizes more securely share, retain and safeguard corporate data for an increasingly mobile and collaborative business environment.

At about 2.5 in. long, both SanDisk USB flash drives are password protected and feature 256-bit encryption. The devices can plug into any computer system running Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows Server 2003 and provide read speeds of 24MB/sec. and write speeds of 20MB/sec., according to officials at Milpitas, Calif.-based SanDisk.

Cruzer Professional is designed for small and midsize businesses and individuals interested in basic protection of information in presentations, files, documents, videos and other media that isn't kept under tight corporate control.

The low-end USB flash drive enables end users to construct a password-protected "privacy zone" that can occupy any amount of its total capacity, said SanDisk. Areas outside the protected zone can be freely accessed by anyone, the company said.

Cruzer Enterprise is built for organizations with tougher security policies, as well as regulatory compliance and privacy concerns, SanDisk said. The high-end drive provides mandatory password-protection for all stored data -- preventing the theft or accessing of files in stolen or lost systems. The device features a setup process to design and implement complex passwords and does not require implementation of drivers.

SanDisk also introduced the Cruzer Enterprise Central Management & Control server software as an add-on to the high-end flash drive. CMC provides password recovery and renewal via the network, central data backup and restore, remote termination of any lost drives, and centralized tracking and auditing, said SanDisk.

Cruzer Professional is available in a 1GB implementation for US$54.99; a 2GB version lists for $94.99, and a 4GB version costs $144.99.

A 1GB version of Cruzer Enterprise is priced at $74.99; 2GB is $124.99, and 4GB is $184.99.

A SanDisk spokesman declined to disclose pricing for the CMC add-on tool.