For many institutions like the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector as well as outsourcing companies (BPOs/KPOs), security standards mandatorily need to be followed. Such organizations have to perform a balancing act between providing usability and flexibility versus data integrity and security. Kingston's Vault Privacy Edition is one such device that the flash drive manufacturer hopes to be the answer to flexibility and data integrity issues. In order to know if the Vault Privacy Edition is all that it claims to be; the flash drive was tried and throughly tested. Let's take a look at what we found.

Features:

The Vault Privacy Edition includes most of the features that the Kingston DataTraveler BlackBox 8 GB has to offer.

The Kingston DataTraveler Vault Privacy features:

• A 256-bit industry standard hardware encryption that uses the AES standard.
• Auto-lockdown and auto format after 10 unsuccessful attempts.
• Complex password input system so that passwords cannot be easily guessed.
• The drive is waterproof up to 4 feet.
• The drive is FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certified by the U.S. government as being tamper-evident.

One thing that sets the Vault Privacy Edition apart from the BlackBox is the 'ruggedness'. The former's shell is made from aluminium while the rugged BlackBox is made from titanium alloy.
 
Installation and Ease of Use:

This drive is as easy to use as the BlackBox. Like the BlackBox this drive also does not support operating systems other than Windows. Just like the BlackBox, this drive also comes formatted with the FAT32 filesystem by default -- which does not allow you to copy files larger then 2 GB in size.

Performance and Benchmarks:

The Vault Privacy Edition was tested for its data transfer rates and the rugged factor its features boast of. On the performance front the drive was able to reach a 20-21 MB/s read rate and 14-15 MB/s in write transfers using the Atto disk benchmark.  The drive was also immersed in a bucket of water for an extended period of time -- which had no effect the data stored on the flash drive. 

Conclusion

The Kingston DataTraveler Vault Privacy 8 GB provides industry standard security while being extremely easy to use. However the price of the drive may be the determining factor for most -- at a stiff Rs. 16,215 -- it definitely meant for organizations that value the safety of their information more than the invesment made on a security standards-compliant flash drive. Depending on how demanding the requirement is, organizations can choose between the more expensive and more rugged BlackBox. While those looking for a more economical solution should stick to the regular fare of flash drives available in the market and combine it with an encrption tool like TrueCrypt.

Pricing and Availability:

Contact Name: Mehul
E-mail: sales_india(at)kingston.com
Tel: 022-26592963
Price: Rs. 16,215
Warranty: 5 years (Kingston also provides free tech support with this device)

Kingston Support:

Toll free (India): 1-800-425-4515 (Monday - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
E-mail support: techsupport_india(at)kingston.com
RMA/Warranty: services_india(at)kingston.com
To find a service center in your city, visit: http://www.kingston.com/india/support/service_center.asp

(Source: www.enterpriser.in)