Relax, I doubt there are crooks out there who are dropping thumb drives in the parking lot, just so unsuspecting people will pick them up, stick them in their computers, and be victims of a phishing scam. (Although at least one security analysis company did just that to assess the vulnerability of their client's network.) Still, I wouldn't recommend that you try to access information off any thumb drive you might find lying on the ground!

Thumb drive, USB key, flash drive, pen drive, keychain drive, memory stick - these are all names for the cool little devices that plug into a USB port on your computer. They come in all kinds of colors and shapes, they are extremely portable, and they can hold up to 16 Gigs of data (64-Gig drives are available but very high priced). This is pretty amazing when you consider that one of those 16-Gig thumb drives can hold more information than ten thousand of those hard plastic 3 1/2 " floppy discs (very popular in the 1990's) could hold.

So what's so dangerous about them?

Finish the article...

Thumb Drives:
See individual products for specifications. Some come with pre-loaded software, or novelty shapes and colors.

• Sandisk
• Memorex

Utility Software:
Both of these allow you to open your files on other computers without installing the software locally.

• Dekart Private Disk - $45.USD
• NewSoftwares Folder Lock - $35.USD

For your computer:

• Windows XP TweakUI (not yet available for Vista)

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