Using an encrypted flash drive

This instruction is only for Kingston Data Traveller 5000 flash drive.

Regardless of what is stored on the flash drive, do not use the drive on computers if you are not sure of their administration; this includes public computers at libraries, internet cafés or at your friend's house. Your password might be compromised without you noticing, and some time later the flash drive with sensitive information on it might go missing.

Never save both public and sensitive material on the same flash drive. You should also never use the same flash drive for multiple purposes, such as saving both personal documents and sensitive research materials.

Encrypted flash drives are not under the University's central administration, so IT support is unable to access the data stored into their memory or help with forgotten passwords. The password on a Data Traveler 5000 USB flash drive can be entered wrong 10 times, after which it is locked down and the information on it is permanently deleted. It is possible to restore the flash drive back to use, but doing this will delete all data on it.

Rules and instructions for using an encrypted flash drive

• A person who has signed out an encrypted USB flash drive agrees to follow the rules related to the use of flash drives.
• Each employee is responsible setting a strong password for the flash drive, and for handling the drive reliably so that the drive and the data on it do not fall into the wrong hands.
• If there are files of security rating TLIII or II saved on the flash drive, it should be kept in a secure locker or, if possible, in a safe when it is not being used. Especially transporting sensitive data unnecessarily should be avoided.
• The flash drive is only intended as a temporary transfer media, and long-term storage of data on it is forbidden.
• The USB flash drive must be handled according to the rules of handling sensitive items and material The flash drives are intended only for work-related use in University of Helsinki business. Using them for other purposes is not allowed.
• USB flash drives are personal, and may not be borrowed or passed on for anyone else to use. Giving the password for the flash drive to another person is also not allowed.
• At the end of employment, flash drives that have been signed out must be returned without separate prompting to the person responsible for administering USB flash drives.
• A virus and malware check must be performed immediately after plugging a flash drive into a computer. If a virus or malware is detected on the flash drive, notify Helpdesk immediately and follow the instructions you receive.
• Before confidential material received from a partner is saved on an encrypted USB flash drive, the USB flash drive must be empty. Also, the password set for the drive must be at least 15 characters long.

Before you can start using the flash drive, it must be formatted, and the password used for decryption must be defined.

• Plug the flash drive into the computer. If the encryption software does not start automatically (autorun), open My Computer and from there, flash drive DT5000. If it does, proceed directly to step 3.
• Double click the DT5000_Launcher on the flash drive that opens.
   

  

• When the encryption software is run for the first time, it automatically formats the flash drive.
• Choose the preferred language for the encryption software and click Next.
• Read and accept the license agreement and click Next.
• Define the password or phrase and click Next.
• Fill in the public information fields for the flash drive as you prefer and click Finish.

Please note! The encryption software requires at least a 6 character password with upper- and lowercase letters and numbers. How secure the encryption is depends very much on the complexity of the password or phrase used. The recommended length for the password is at least 10 characters, or 15 characters when transferring sensitive materials.

• Double click the DT5000_Launcher on the flash drive that opens.
• Enter the password you set earlier to the encryption software.
• When the data is decrypted, the contents of the flash drive will be available for use. The default name for the encrypted partition is KINGSTON.

• When you have finished saving data on the flash drive, remember to shut down the encrypted partition. Click the encryption software's icon in the lower right corner of the screen once and select Shut Down DT5000 from the pop-up.

• The software will ask if you really want to shut down the flash drive.
• Wait until the software notifies you that it is safe to remove the flash drive.

When the flash drive is opened, click the encryption software's icon in the lower right corner of the screen and select DT5000 Settings from the pop-up menu.

In the settings menu you can change the language of the software, change the public information stored on the flash drive and change the password. Remember to save the changes you make by clicking Apply right after making the changes and OK when you close the settings window.

Changing the password

To change your password, enter your current password into the Current Password field on the Password tab, and the new password into both the New Password and the Password Confirmation fields.

The encryption software requires a password which is at least 6 characters long, with both upper- and lowercase letters and numbers. How secure the encryption is depends very much on the complexity of the password or phrase used. The recommended length for the password is at least 10 characters, or 15 characters when transferring sensitive materials.

Updating the information fields

The information fields (Contact information tab) can be freely filled with information on the owner of the flash drive. Do remember, however, that the information entered into these fields will be public to anyone who has access to the flash drive.

It is recommended to enter the name of your unit into the Name field and University of Helsinki (or Helsingin Yliopisto) into the Company field. You can enter more specific information, such as the name of your research group, into the Details field.

Under no circumstances should you enter references to the password or other confidential information into the additional information fields.

Changing the language

To change the language of the encryption software, pick the preferred language from the drop-down menu on the Language tab and click Apply. Finnish and Swedish are not included in the software.