Kingston DataTraveler 6000 FIPS Level 3 Encrypted Flash Drive Review

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For those of you that had the chance to read our review on the Kingston DT4000, today we take things one step further increasing FIPS 140-2 to Level 3 maintaining hardware based 256-bit encryption in the same compact USB flash drive form factor.

The Kingston DT6000 may seem like a standard flash drive on the outside. Looking internally though, the flash drive combines years of intense research and development from Spyrus in security technology. Featuring Level 3 military grade FIPS 140-2 compliance, the DT6000 ensures your sensitive data will never be compromised. Compatibility extends to all modern Windows operating systems, along with Mac OS X 10.6+ Warranty is listed at five years.

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The DT6000 features the same rugged exterior design we found with the DT4000. Branding and capacity are listed on the front of the drive.

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The back of the drive houses the model identification and assembly information, along with the Spyrus logo.

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The Kingston DT6000 utilizes a capped design, which allows for the drive to be waterproof up to four feet.

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Setting up the DT6000, we first select our preferred language.

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Like the DT4000, the Kingston DT6000 allows 10 attempts at entering the correct password, before the drive is erased.

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Going back into the settings. Here you can change your password, along with the password hint.

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The Kingston DT4000 is factory formatted with the FAT32 file system, insuring compatibility between Windows and Macintosh computers. The usable capacity after formatting is 29.6GB.

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For a quick performance check, we ran through CDM with the DT6000. Here we have 22 MB/s for sequential read and 12 MB/s for write.

The Kingston DT6000 furthers the amount of security features we found in the DT4000 by quite a bit. Here we have the same 256-bit hardware encryption we found in the DT4000, but by partnering with Spyrus, the DT6000 sector-based USB encryption device implements Suite B high-strength cryptographic algorithms and advanced key management.

In addition to this, the DT6000 does not store the PIN internally. Instead, the PIN is entered over a secure channel and is mathematically combined with other information using Suite B algorithms to generate a Master Encryption Key.

Performance of the DT6000 met up with our expectations, being a secured flash drive never did the term performance cross our minds, and we knew this going in. However, the drive was able to accomplish 22 MB/s read and 12 MB/s write, which is rather decent performance for a USB 2.0 secured solution.

Pricing for the 32GB Kingston DT6000 is set at $229.99 and can be found at many e-tailers and accordingly Kingston's online store.

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