BIOS: Technology Means Business

If you're worried about your data when you're on the move, the highly-portable Bio ClipDrive offers the latest fingerprint recognition technology to ensure that only authorised users can access data stored on parts of the drive. You'll pay over double the price compared to a non-secure solution however, and you have to worry about drivers.

Pros: Variable memory partition sizes; effective data security solution
Cons: Requires software drivers; protective sleeve has no lock

USB Flash memory devices have been proving increasingly popular over the last year, particularly as the reduction in memory prices has meant you can now buy a useful amount of removable storage for under £100. Jadetec has been selling these memory devices for some while, but has recently started to import the ClipDrive Bio, a USB Flash memory drive with a difference.

If you're worried about the security of your data on a Flash memory drive, the ClipDrive Bio could help ease your concerns. Using biometric fingerprint technology, the Bio ClipDrive's scanner authenticates a user's identity and then gives them access to the hidden secure partition on the device. All data saved on the secure partition portion of the ClipDrive Bio is automatically encrypted and hidden. If a finger print is not recognised, access to the secure partition is prohibited.

The 128MB version we reviewed is divided into two partitions with, by default, 16MB available as public space and the remaining 112MB secured by the fingerprint reader. Jadetek also offers 64MB (£75 ex.VAT), 256MB (£139 ex.VAT), 512MB (£259 ex.VAT) and 1GB (£439 ex.VAT) versions of the ClipDrive Bio. Once the software is installed, you can change the size of the two partitions. You can also add a password to the system for extra protection.

The added protection does make the device more complicated to use, however. With an unprotected device, you simply plug it into a USB port on any PC running Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP and the operating system sees it as a new drive, making it instantly available for transferring files. To access the protected partition on the ClipDrive Bio, though, you need to install specific driver software.

Systems running Windows XP require Service Pack 1 (SP1) and those running Windows 2000 need SP3. These are non-trivial upgrades and although the application is less picky with Windows 98 or 98SE, it still requires Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 or later.

The fingerprint reader itself is easy to use, as long as you have an easily-accessible USB port on your PC. Fiddling around with a fingerprint pad at the back of a computer is no fun and makes it hard to read the screen. You can 'enrol' any finger or thumb, from left or right hands, and after building up a pattern of your print, which takes around 20 seconds, recognition takes around 10 seconds. In our tests, the device consistently read enrolled fingerprints correctly and rejected un-enrolled ones.

The drive comes with a leather-look case and has a convenient sliding sleeve which protects the USB plug on its end, eliminating the need for a separate cover which can become detached and lost. All documentation is supplied on a credit card-sized CD-ROM and is generally clear and concise. The only real problem is the need for specific versions of Windows or Internet Explorer to run its control software. You're also paying a price premium for the added security. For example, Jadetec sells a 128MB PenDrive for £39 (ex.VAT)

Links:
Jadetec ClipDrive Bio Web site