IronKey Personal S250 8GB Secure (D2-S250-S08-2FIPS)

The Ironkey USB flash drives are the only drives available with on-board hardware encrypted protection. Other devices depend on a software solution which can be more easily hacked. The military grade encryption of the Ironkey resides on the device which is tamper resistant and encased in virtually indestructible aluminum. The password is verified by the drive, not software on your computer. I know from experience that it can survive a trip through the laundry. In use, the drive is fast with encryption on the fly and completely unnoticed. The Ironkey does have a self destruct feature built-in. A user only has 8 attempts to enter a correct password. After that the drive wipes all data. This is not a flash drive for the casual user. If you must store business information on a flash drive, you can be assured that it will be safe on the Ironkey (assuming you have chosen a strong password). Another feature that I like is the Password Manager. The Ironkey can remember log-on and password information for important sites that again are encrypted automatically and seamlessly. It will then auto-fill that information when you go to those sites. It works well. When traveling, I use the Secure Sessions feature. Secure Sessions works as a private VPN. An onboard Firefox browser included with the Ironkey flash drive provides secure encrypted network communications shielding you from 'man in the middle' attacks, wireless signal capture and other modes of hacking. In addition your IP address is protected from prying eyes.I have been very pleased with the performance of my Ironkeys and just upgraded to the 8GB model. If you need to protect your data when on the go, this is really the only choice.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR MAC USERS.I have owned an Ironkey S100-Personal (Windows only) for many years and loved it for all the nice features such as mobile Firefox and Identity Manager. So I decided to get a new S250-Personal to carry with my MacBook Pro. Sorry to say that the Imation support for Mac is dismal at best.Copied directly from the Imation users manual.“Windows Only” “Onboard Firefox” “Secure Backup” “Identity Manager” “Secure Sessions” “Device Update”I have no clue how Imation can call this a Personal Edition Ironkey when none of the Personal Edition apps are supported under Mac. It appears that I need to dig out my old XP machine to do setup, firmware updates and even backups.I visited the forum.ironkey.com to verify my discoveries. This ironkey site also provides many more reasons for staying away from the Ironkey. Many unhappy Mac-Ironkey users. It appears that Imation slapped a basic Mac interface on the frontend and changed a few lines in the User Guide, and then called it ready for prime time. That is all.My opinion is that there is no way I can trust this Mac version of Ironkey to be part of my security consulting business. My Ironkey is in the mail back to Amazon for refund. Hopefully Imation has not killed the quality in the windows apps as well.Signed,VERY disappointed CISSP security consultant.

Small, secure, easy to set up, and really nice looking on top of it all.

Replaced my old one. I pulled my old IK out of a computer without closing the file. I messed it up and had to order another. IK is the best for security. I can sleep an night. It worth it. Don't trust the guys that say they can install a program that can do the same thing. Impossible. IK has the highest encryption as well as has automatic data destruction for unauthorized users. Like I said, I can sleep at night even if I forget. This one has Identity Manager that lets you log into your selected accounts automatically.

Waterproof? Check.Indestructible? Check.Uncrackable? Well. . . Barring rubber-hose crypto, check.Looks sexy? Check.As long as you pick an even mildly secure password and you don't set up online password recovery, there's essentially no way that your private data will become public against your will. The current version fixes the most annoying issue with earlier models: software that won't play nicely with high-resolution displays. The self-immolation feature after ten blown password attempts could be a mixed blessing if you have trouble remembering passwords or some meddlesome nitwit plays at hacking it or simply doesn't like you but it is also majorly comforting to know that no one is going to get a chance to read the contents. With the hardware components epoxy-potted, even looking at — much less tampering with the hardware is next to impossible as well.If I could make one improvement (aside from the not entirely unreasonable price), it would be great if Imation offered a rubber boot to make it more comfortable and less noisy when worn around the neck but if you don't mind the "Bubba Effect," a few strategic wraps of duct tape does the job nicely.Bottom line: If you need it or you even suspect you may need it eventually, get the IronKey. It's not big enough to store your AV library but 8GB is enough storage for most any legitimate purpose. If it's not big enough for yours, there's always the 16 or 32GB models. Or just buy a second drive.

I am a big fan of Ironkey. I use it to access the web securely with the onboard secure sessions which obfuscate my network origin. I store my personal records in its encrypted space. I take comfort in its ability to self destruct if I lose it and someone tries to guess my password. I had an S-100 Ironkey (the first model) but it started to get a little slow after I used it daily for about 5 years. The S-250 is two generations newer and is as fast as I'd hoped. Overall I highly recommend it.

Very safe alternative to software run encrypted thumbdrives.

Excellent very safe and secure flash drive. Its expensive but worth it if security of your data is important. Works under Windows and Linux.