IronKey

Summary

IronKey is the brand name of a family of encrypted USB portable storage devices owned by Kingston Digital, the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc.

IronKey S250 8GB encrypted USB flash drive

History edit

From 2005 to 2012, IronKey was an Internet security and privacy company based in California. IronKey's founding was partially funded by the U.S. federal government, with a grant of US$1.4 million through the Homeland Security Research Projects Agency.[1][2][3] Their products have been used by the U.S. government in various areas.[4][5]

Imation acquired IronKey in September 2011.[6] In October 2012, IronKey rebranded itself as Marble Security, and the IronKey brand became wholly owned by Imation.[7][8] As part of Imation, the IronKey portfolio includes products and intellectual property from the former IronKey, as well as technologies from Imation acquisitions of MXI Security and ENCRYPTX.[9][10]

On February 8, 2016, Kingston Technology Company, Inc., announced it had acquired the USB technology and assets of IronKey from Imation.[11]

On February 8, 2016, DataLocker Inc. announced it had acquired Ironkey's Enterprise Management Service (EMS) and other assets from Imation. [12]

In November 2018, Kingston announced that the IronKey had new features and was now FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified.[13]

In early 2021, a reported 7,000 Bitcoin were stranded in a IronKey flash drive due to a forgotten password. The owner, Programmer Stefan Thomas, did not utilize the Enterprise Management Service for password recovery. [14] In 2023, a company named Unciphered found a way to unlock IronKey USB sticks similar to the one Thomas used.[15]

Windows To Go portable workspaces edit

Among Imation’s IronKey products are flash drives certified by Microsoft for Windows To Go.[16] Windows To Go is an enterprise feature of Windows 8 that enables the creation of a workspace that can be booted from a USB-connected external drive on PCs that meet Microsoft certification requirements, regardless of the operating system running on the PC. A Windows To Go product, the IronKey Workspace W300, received the Editors’ Choice accolade from PC Magazine in February 2013.[17]

Products edit

Secure Portable Storage edit

  • IronKey Enterprise S250 and D250 USB flash drives
  • IronKey F200 Biometric Flash Drive
  • IronKey Basic S250 and D250 USB flash drives
  • IronKey F150 Flash Drive
  • IronKey Personal S250 and D250 USB flash drives
  • IronKey H100 External USB Hard Drive
  • IronKey H200 Biometric External USB Hard Drive
  • IronKey F100 Flash Drive
  • IronKey D80 Flash Drive
  • IronKey H80 External USB Hard Drive
  • IronKey D300S USB Flash Drive
  • IronKey D300SM USB Flash Drive
  • IronKey S1000 Encrypted USB Flash Drive

IronKey Secure Workspaces edit

Windows 8:

  • IronKey Workspace W700 Windows To Go (Microsoft certified, FIPS Certified)[18]
  • IronKey Workspace W500 Windows To Go (Microsoft certified)[19]
  • IronKey Workspace W300 Windows To Go (Microsoft certified)

Windows 7:

  • IronKey Workspace MWES USB Flash Drive with Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard (MWES) edition software.

References edit

  1. ^ "SOMETHING VENTURED: Uncle Sam Is Staking Start-Ups" (PDF). VentureWire. March 12, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  2. ^ "10 Hot Security Startups". DarkReading. April 12, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  3. ^ "Command, Control and Interoperability Programs and Projects". Department of Homeland Security. April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  4. ^ "U.S. Department of Homeland Security - 2010 Budget in Brief" (PDF). Department of Homeland Security. 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  5. ^ "Department Responsibilities: Maximize Use of Science, Technology and Innovation". Department of Homeland Security. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  6. ^ "Imation Acquires IronKey's USB-Based Hardware Security Business". eWeek. Retrieved Sep 20, 2011.
  7. ^ "Marble Cloud Launches Mobile Security Service for iPhone, Android". eWeek. Retrieved Oct 16, 2012.
  8. ^ "Imation to Unify Mobile Security Portfolio around IronKey Brand". Imation. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved Oct 15, 2012.
  9. ^ "Imation acquires MXI Security, broadens product line". IT World Canada. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Imation Acquires Encryption And Security Solutions Company ENCRYPTX". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  11. ^ Mearian, Lucas (2016-02-08). "Kingston buys encrypted flash drive maker IronKey". Computerworld. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  12. ^ Inc, DataLocker (2016-02-08). datalocker.com%5daLocker-Acquires-IronKey-Enterprise-Management-Services-EMS-and-Other-Assets-From-Imation.html "DataLocker Acquires IronKey Enterprise Management Services (EMS) and Other Assets From Imation". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2021-07-30. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); Check |url= value (help)
  13. ^ "Kingston IronKey D300 encrypted USB drive". Geeky Gadgets. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  14. ^ January 2021, Joel Khalili 19 (2021-01-19). "IronKey maker couldn't liberate this locked $260m Bitcoin wallet, even if it wanted to". TechRadar. Retrieved 2021-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Greenberg, Andy. "They Cracked the Code to a Locked USB Drive Worth $235 Million in Bitcoin. Then It Got Weird". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  16. ^ "Microsoft Windows To Go Homepage". Microsoft.
  17. ^ "IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB)". PC Magazine. Retrieved Feb 26, 2013.
  18. ^ FIPS 140-2 Non-Proprietary Security Policy
  19. ^ "Explore Windows 10 OS, Computers, Apps, & More - Microsoft". www.microsoft.com.

External links edit

  • Official website