Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 Review - The Most Secure I’ve Felt With a Flash Drive
At the 2014 Las Vegas CES, Kingston announced the launch of their new DataTraveler Locker+ G3 (DTLPG3) USB 3.0 Flash drive for personal security. This flash drive offers both digital and physical protection to your files along with fast transfer speeds and lots of storage space.
I’ve never felt more secure with a flash drive than I have with the DTLPG3.
From the press release:
“Kingston’s DataTraveler Locker+ G3 password protects and hardware encrypts data giving consumers the best in personal security with USB 3.0 speed. The DTLPG3 boasts higher speeds than the previous generation DataTraveler Locker+ G2, with read speeds up to 135MB/s and write speeds up to 40MB/s. All the security is built in with no application installation required making this drive very secure and easy to use.”
Physical Protection
To me, it doesn’t matter how secure your data is on any storage device - as long as the device is made of cheap plastic, you’re at a huge risk for data loss.
Kingston didn’t cheap out on the casing, and gave us a rugged, durable metal casing for the drive, with a built-in key loop that won’t be breaking off anytime soon. The cap for the drive also stays on very tight, that way the USB end can stay in great shape over time.
The metal casing for the DTLPG3 is also very heavy so if you ever need to defend yourself with your keys, your data security can become personal security.
Data Protection
In my experience, “file encryption” or “data protection” on flash drives has not been all that impressive. Your files get stored in a hidden folder, within a password-protected folder or file, or just stored within one giant .EXE that is the software for the drive. As secure as it may be, it just feels vulnerable.
Kingston’s DTLPG3, however, takes a different approach. When you first plug in the drive, all that even gets mounted is a small drive letter containing the DataTraveler Locker+ software to access your drive.
This is mounted as a CD filesystem with no free space, and literally just serves to launch the Locker+ software so that a user may log in and access their drive. There is no other drive mounted with your information. It’s not hidden, it’s not zipped up, it’s literally not there until the password is entered correctly.
The Locker+ software is extremely easy to use. When you open the first drive, it pops up asking for your password. Once the password is entered correctly, the drive opens.
The software allows for viewing of a small amount of contact information as well as a password hint. Once the password has been entered incorrectly 10 times, the drive will lock down and prevent further attempts.
If the password is forgotten, it can be reset - but that will delete all information stored on the drive.
If you are looking for an easy to use file encryption system for taking data with you, Kingston’s DTLPG3 is the drive for you.
File Transfer
Once the password has been entered correctly, Locker+ mounts and opens your drive like any other flash drive where you can open, copy and save files to at will.
Thanks to the USB 3.0 technology Kinston went with on the DTLPG3, transferring and securing your files is faster than ever.
I’ve never understood how people make use of bigger flash drives (32GB - 128GB) with slow, USB 2 transfer speeds. In the current time of gigabit networks, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and Sata 3, USB 2 drives are a pain to use.
With a 135MB/s read speed and 40MB/s write speed over USB 3.0, this drive keeps your files secure at a reasonable speed.
Minor Trouble
Since the GTLPG3 first mounts the Locker+ software, then mounts your actual data drive, it requires 2 consecutive drive letters to be available for the device on your system. For most people and most computers, this will not be an issue.
However, for one of our test PCs that contains a lot of hard drives and network-mapped drives, we could not get the Locker+ software to work once, as it claimed enough drive letters were not available. In theory, the system should have more than enough drive letters available (Q-Z) but we were unable to find a workaround.
This is a minor issue that will only affect a small percentage of consumers, but something to be considered nonetheless.
Overall, the DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is reliable, secure, and extremely easy to use - perfect for anyone looking for simple, but effective file security on the go.
Just make sure you don’t hit anyone in the head with it, as it might cause permanent damage.
Kingston’s DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is available from 8GB to 64GB, is compatible with Windows XP-Windows 8 (excluding Windows RT) as well as Mac OS X 10.6-10.9.
A 5 year manufacturer’s warranty is also included.
You can get this device here:
DTLPG3 8GB http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HQC8STA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HQC8STA&linkCode=as2&tag=echu-20
DTLPG3 16GB
DTLPG3 32GB
DTLPG3 64GB