It can be unlocked by linking to Android and Windows 8 devices

Jun 10, 2013 09:05 GMT  ·  By

Data protection is something that some people put a great deal of emphasis on, so I'm not surprised that PQI has a flash drive with encryption technology.

What does surprise me is the type of encryption, and the way it is implemented. Quite restrictive really.

Basically, PQI has introduced a flash drive that needs an NFC-capable Android or Windows 8 device to unlock the data.

And I mean just read-only, one-time access. Any other times, the files stay hidden.

To get the device to work, a companion app has to be installed on the PC, tablet or phone. In it, owners need to set a password, or tap the flash drive (even when unplugged) to change settings.

The best part about the encryption is that the computer's drive utility can't see the dongle at all if hidden, because it is all done on the storage controller level.

PQI will release the NFC-encrypted drive, or rather drives, in Q4, with 8 to 64 GB capacities.