Editing USB flash drive (section)

===Encryption and security===
{{main|USB flash drive security}}

As highly portable media, USB flash drives are easily lost or stolen. All USB flash drives can have their contents encrypted using third-party disk encryption software, which can often be run directly from the USB drive without installation (for example, [[FreeOTFE]]), although some, such as BitLocker, require the user to have administrative rights on every computer it is run on.

Archiving software can achieve a similar result by creating encrypted [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP]] or [[RAR (file format)|RAR]] files.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pkware.com/software/pkzip/server/technical-specs|title=Technical Specifications - PKZIP Server - PKWARE - server - pkzip - software|author=Arlen Walker|work=pkware.com|access-date=29 June 2015|archive-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018213413/https://www.pkware.com/software/pkzip/server/technical-specs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rarlab.com/rar_archiver.htm|title=WinRAR archiver, a powerful tool to process RAR and ZIP files|work=rarlab.com|access-date=29 June 2015|archive-date=3 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703053034/http://www.rarlab.com/rar_archiver.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some manufacturers have produced USB flash drives which use hardware-based encryption as part of the design,<ref name=hardware_encryption>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldkey.com/products/secure-encrypted-flash-drive.html |title=Encrypted & Secure USB Flash Drive - GoldKey |access-date=2016-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124123810/http://www.goldkey.com/products/secure-encrypted-flash-drive.html |archive-date=2013-01-24 }}</ref> removing the need for third-party encryption software. In limited circumstances these drives have been [[USB flash drive security#Compromised systems|shown to have security problems]], and are typically more expensive than software-based systems, which are available for free.

A minority of flash drives support [[biometric]] [[fingerprinting]] to confirm the user's identity. As of mid-{{As of|2005|alt=2005}},{{Update after|2010|11|13}} this was an expensive alternative to standard password protection offered on many new USB flash storage devices. Most fingerprint scanning drives rely upon the host operating system to validate the fingerprint via a software driver, often restricting the drive to [[Microsoft Windows]] computers. However, there are USB drives with fingerprint scanners which use controllers that allow access to protected data without any authentication.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heise-online.co.uk/security/Secure-USB-sticks-cracked--/features/110280|title=heise online - IT-News, Nachrichten und Hintergründe|work=heise online|access-date=2008-03-21|archive-date=2008-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226053259/http://www.heise-online.co.uk/security/Secure-USB-sticks-cracked--/features/110280|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some manufacturers deploy [[Dongle|physical authentication tokens]] in the form of a flash drive. These are used to control access to a sensitive system by containing encryption keys or, more commonly, communicating with security software on the target machine. The system is designed so the target machine will not operate except when the flash drive device is plugged into it. Some of these "PC lock" devices also function as normal flash drives when plugged into other machines.