Malware on Unsecure Flash Drives - The IronKey Response Part I

The media has recently reported incidents involving the spread of the W32.SillyFDC worm, a low-risk piece of malware that sometimes infects PCs and networks via USB flash drives. Several government agencies have implemented a temporary ban on removable media.

IronKey have announced a comprehensive initiative to protect portable and mobile media from viruses, worms, trojans, botnets, crimeware and other malware threats. IronKey’s initial research was partially funded by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate.

The IronKey secure USB devices can withstand both simple and sophisticated attacks and all IronKey products have been FIPS 140-2 Level 2 validated. IronKey devices are intelligent, secure storage devices with strong, two-factor authentication and on-board security co-processors. As security processor costs become more affordable, it is possible to embed increasingly sophisticated layers of protection inside portable devices to protect enterprise and government networks from media-borne malware and crimeware. This enables IronKey secure storage devices to provide the highest levels of anti-virus and anti-malware support in hardware. Hardware support for anti-malware provides an unbeatable layer of protection for mobile devices to prevent malware from spreading onto enterprise networks.

The IronKey Anti-Malware Initiative information can be found here.
Key points of the initiative include:- Always-on Milirary Grade hardware encryption.- Malware-protected software and firmware updates.- Secure manufacturing processes.- Secure provisioning and quality assurance processes.- Real-time anti-malware scanning.