Techwise

Cruzer profile

What is it?

A portable drive with a twist. About the size of a pack of chewing gum, Sandisk Cruzer Profile is a USB flash drive with a built-in biometric fingerprint scanner that protects data stored in its memory.

How does it work?

You can store up to 512MB or 1GB worth of data depending on the version you get. To retrieve the data, just plug in the device, position your finger over the scanner attached to the drive by a short cable and you can gain access. It does not need any accompanying software to be installed on the computer as the fingerprint images will be stored on the device itself. This ensures that it does not leave any trace on a PC, thus providing higher security. The device is compatible with Windows 2000 and XP.

If, for some reason, you can't access the device using fingerprint scan, there is a portable password manager which works on any host PC.

Drawbacks

The gadget's sleekness is compromised by the cable that loops over one side of the drive. Perhaps a swivel, rather than a tethered attachment, would look better.

Where to get one?

http://www.sandisk.com.sg/ 512MB US$99.99 (S$165.87)/ 1GB US$199.99