How Kanguru FlashTrust™ Secure Firmware USB Flash Drive Helps Protect Organisations From Malware

Kanguru FlashTrust™- The World's First Non-encrypted USB 3.0 Flash Drive with Secure Firmware

Your data is one of the most valuable assets to your organisation, yet doing business requires easy access, convenience and portability of this information. For this reason, USB flash drives have become very popular, however researchers have revealed a potential danger with USB technology called "badUSB" where savvy hackers could potentially use the technology to deliver malware that can infiltrate an organisation's trusted network.

To alleviate this potential threat, organisations may choose to be proactive in implementing a solution that includes using USB drives with onboard secure firmware.

The Kanguru FlashTrust™ offers an affordable alternative for organisations  who may not require high-end hardware encryption, but are still high risk for malware attacks. Developed with the same high-level, digitally signed secure firmware as Kanguru's hardware encrypted Defender® series, the FlashTrust is the world's first non-encrypted USB 3.0 flash drive with built-in secure firmware, helping organisations protect against any threat of badUSB or malware tampering, while providing an extra measure of confidence and trust. 

What Industries are Best for Secure Firmware USB?

Utility companies, defence contractors, and manufacturing firms are just some of the industries using secure firmware USB drives to protect themselves from any possibility of malware. Organisations wanting to ensure a protected environment from malware intrusion while not requiring high-end hardware encryption, will benefit from the Kanguru FlashTrust secure firmware USB. (If you require hardware encryption, please see our Defender® series.)

In addition, organisations that use a software encryption module for endpoint security see direct benefits with having whitelisted, encrypted USB drives with secure firmware from a trusted, U.S. based company.

 

Is "badUSB" as bad as it sounds?

In August 2014, researchers Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell, revealed a potential threat to USB technology, pointing out that any USB peripheral (including printers, keyboards, computer mice, webcams or flash keys) could be open to a possibility of a savvy hacker physically changing the firmware to deliver infective malware. Although this would be very difficult to do, the news, known as "BadUSB", has worried some that USB drives could be vulnerable to such type of physical tampering.

But is "badUSB" really as bad as it sounds? When it comes to a possibility of tampering with USB technology, it's not a huge threat to the overall population (as it would take an extremely savvy, and deeply disgruntled hacker to tamper with the firmware of a USB device) but still, some organisations may be at greater risk than others. To combat this, organisations may make the use of secure firmware drives - like the Kanguru FlashTrust - an essential company policy, providing a layer of protection from malware attack through the use of USB. 

 

How Digitally-Signed Secure Firmware Works

By design, the Kanguru FlashTrust™ is inherently protected with what is called digitally signed secure firmware. This fundamental feature makes it nearly impossible for any firmware-based attack to be successful, making it the most trusted USB device on the market. The FlashTrust uses the same firmware technology reserved for Kanguru's Defender® hardware encrypted drives, which are designed in compliance with NIST requirements of digitally signing the device firmware, and is verified through a rigorous process known as FIPS 140-2 certification. Because the secure firmware is verified with a self-test on start-up, if any attempt were made to tamper with the firmware on a Kanguru secure firmware drive, the USB device simply would not function.