Kingston Technology has introduced two USB 2.0 flash drives; the DataTraveler Secure, and the DataTraveler Secure - Privacy Edition. Both are rugged, waterproof, and feature industry leading hardware-based encryption for protection of critical data.

DataTraveler Secure flash drives are targeted at consumers and small to medium sized businesses, while DataTraveler Secure - Privacy Edition flash drives are meant for enterprise level customers.

Sporting a Titanium-coated Stainless Steel casing, the flash drives are waterproof-rated, and conform to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60529 IPX8 standard to protect against water damage up to a depth of 4 feet.

The 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware-based encryption provides access control and data protection.

Available in capacities of up to 4 GB, the drives boast read and write speeds of 24 MB/sec and 10 MB/sec respectively.

In particular, the DataTraveler Secure flash drive comes with MyDataZone software, which helps users apply password access control for private data storage areas on the USB drive. Besides, this flash drive includes My Traveler software to help users manage content, set language preferences, and synchronize files with a host device.

Both flash drive types come in dimensions of 3.06 x 0.9 x 0.47 inches, and are compatible with Win 2000 SP4 or higher, Win XP SP1 and above.

Scott Chen, Vice President of APAC Business Development, Kingston, said, "Kingston continues to deliver a wide range of USB Flash drives to protect user data. DataTraveler Secure drives ensure data integrity under extreme conditions, without sacrificing performance. With hardware encryption and a complex password protocol the Kingston DataTraveler Secure Privacy Edition will be the only 100% private USB drive on the market."

DataTraveler Secure flash drives are immediately available, while DataTraveler Secure - Privacy Edition flash drives will be available in Jan 2007. The new flash drives are available through A Infoways, Avnet India, Ingram Micro, Kobian Electronics, and Transtek Infoways, and come along with a guaranteed five-year warranty.