We have tested many other USB flash drives that did not make the cut. Here are a few that might be worth considering for some folks.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Kingston Dual Portable SSD (1 TB) for $229: With a snazzy metallic red body, this SSD disguised as a flash drive is very speedy, matching the stated 1,050 MB/s read and 950 MB/s write in my tests. It is USB 3.2 Gen 2 with a C jack at one end and an A jack at the other, both with removable covers. As much as I like this drive, which comes in 512-GB, 1-TB, and 2-TB models, it is on the pricey side.
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Amazon Basics Flash Drive (128 GB) for $18: I like the grippy texture on the slider of this drive because it’s easy to open one-handed and locks in place securely. The loop at the top is perfect for a key ring, and it is lightweight. Performance was limited, as you might expect at this price, but it consistently exceeded the stated 130 MB/s read and 30 MB/s write speeds for larger files, though it only had 116 GB usable out of the box.
Buffalo External SSD-PUT Stick (500 GB) for $70: Another SSD in a flash drive body, this drive hit 450 MB/s in my tests and offers shock protection for falls. There’s also a sliding USB-A, and it comes with a USB-C adapter. It is pretty chunky for a flash drive, so you may find it blocks adjacent ports. You can also get reasonably priced 1- and 2-TB versions of this drive.
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PNY Pro Elite V2 (256 GB) for $60: This sliding drive has a plastic cover to protect the USB-A plug, and was our compact pick for a while. It performed well (read and write speeds hovered around 415 MB/s and 425 MB/s) in my tests, and has an opening for a lanyard or keyring. I tested the 256-GB drive, but there are 512-GB and 1-terabyte models.
SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go (128 GB) for $29: This handy drive swivels to give you USB-C or USB-A, and comes in various sizes and some fun colors, but the lower capacity drives are slow (USB 3.1). You can get the 128 GB drive and up in USB 3.2 Gen 1 for up to 400 MB/s read and it’s a solid alternative to the PNY Duo above.
PNY Elite-X (128 GB) for $16: This super-compact, sliding drive has a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 jack and a loop on the end to fit on a keyring. It worked fine but proved unremarkable in my tests (around 200 MB/s read, and 130 MB/s write).
Kingston IronKey Keypad 200 (16 GB) for $112: If you need a secure drive, Kingston’s IronKey boasts FIPS 140-3 certification, XTS-AES 256-bit encryption, and a special epoxy on its circuitry to make it impossible to remove components. On the downside, it is expensive, the keypad is fiddly, and 10 wrong entries wipe the drive.
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Samsung Bar Plus (256 GB) for $52: An elegant, one-piece, curved design makes this drive easy to withdraw and there’s a loop so you can slip it onto a keyring. Test read speeds were just shy of 400 MB/s, with write speeds just over 100 MB/s, but the smaller drives (32 GB and 64 GB) are significantly slower. The Bar Plus is also a durable option, with Samsung claiming it is waterproof, shock-proof, temperature-proof, magnet-proof, and x-ray-proof.
Avoid These Flash Drives
Photograph: Simon Hill
Silicon Power DS72 Portable SSD (1 TB): This is a reasonable price for a 1-TB drive with USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB-A and USB-C connectors, and it consistently hit 450 MB/s read and write speeds in my tests (it can hit 1050 MB/s and 850 MB/s with the right gear). It got quite warm to the touch, but the reason I don’t recommend this drive is the stupid plastic connector covers. You have to bend them back, and they get in the way when you’re trying to insert the drive.
Verbatim Dual (64 GB): This teeny drive is cheap and has both USB-A and USB-C plugs, but I found write speeds were variable (60 MB/s for USB-C and 90 MB/s for USB-A) and read speeds were around 150 MB/s for both. There is a cover for the USB-A and a wee strap you can attach, but this drive is almost too small, and it proved awkward to insert and remove. It also comes in 16- or 32-gigabyte options.
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How to Eject and Format Drives
It’s a good idea to format your USB flash drive before you start using it. You’ll usually be asked what format you want to use. Almost every device will recognize the FAT32 format, but it limits the individual file size to 4 GB. Go for exFAT if you have larger files. If you format a flash drive, it will completely wipe everything stored on it. Here’s how to do it manually:
On a Windows computer: Open File Explorer and look for your drive under This PC. Right-click on it, and select Format.
On a Mac: Type Disk Utility into the Search, or find it via Applications > Utilities. Select your drive from the list and click Erase at the top. Then you can rename and choose a format.
On a Chromebook: Open Files and right-click on your drive to choose Format device.
You’re probably familiar with warnings about removing a drive without ejecting it first. But there’s a genuine risk your data will be corrupted, so here’s how to do it properly:
On a Windows computer: You can click the Safely Remove Hardware notification icon in the system tray and choose the Eject option. If you prefer not to have to eject, type Device Manager into the search bar and click to open. Expand Disk Drives and right-click on your USB flash drive, choose Properties, Policies, and set to Quick Removal.
On a Mac: You will see an eject icon listed next to the drive name in Finder, or you can simply drag the flash drive image on your desktop to the trash.
On a Chromebook: Open Files and right-click on your drive, then select Eject device.
On an Android device: You can open and expand the USB notification to find an Eject option.
On an iPhone or iPad: There is no eject option. Ensure no data transfer is in progress before you pull it. It’s a good idea to close the Files app or whatever app you were using to transfer files.
How to Get the Most From Your USB Flash Drive
There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re shopping for USB flash drives, and we also have some tips for using them.
Capacity: To decide on the capacity of the storage device you need, first check the size of the folders or files you want to copy. Each USB drive in our guide has a stated capacity, but the usable storage will be slightly less than that, because the device’s firmware requires space.
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Speed: USB standards are advancing all the time, and we recommend USB 3.0 as a minimum, though higher is better. While USB standards have different theoretical maximum speeds, it’s crucial to check the manufacturer’s stated read and write speeds for each drive. If you’re primarily transferring data, you’ll want to look for a drive with high write speeds. If you’re planning on launching software on a computer through the drive (like a video game), then you’ll want a model with high read speeds. Manufacturers will state average speeds, but most drives are much faster at transferring large files and tend to be far slower at transferring small files.
Compatibility: Many flash drives will work with any device with the relevant USB port, but check compatibility to avoid disappointment. If you want to use a drive with an Android device or something from the iPhone 16 range or later, it will require USB on-the-go (OTG) support. Most Android devices do support USB OTG. You will get a notification when you insert a flash drive with options that should include File Transfer. You can try the USB OTG Checker app to confirm support if you’re unsure. Apple’s earlier iPhones and iPads don’t support USB OTG, but you can install a companion app for drives, like SanDisk’s iXpand series.
Connectors: Most flash drives have USB-A connectors, but you can also get drives with USB-C, MicroUSB, and Lightning connectors. If you plan on using a flash drive with your smartphone and computer, snag one with both of the required types of connectors. You can also buy USB hubs with multiple USB ports or adapters, but pay close attention to the supported standard or it may limit your data transfer speeds. This Anker USB-A to USB-C adapter, for example, is USB 3.0.
Security: Remember that USB drives can cause security issues, particularly for businesses, and you should never plug in random drives you find lying around. If you plan to keep sensitive data on your flash drive, then consider biometric or passcode protection, and look into the level of encryption it offers. There are software services that offer encryption and allow you to password-protect your files on any USB flash drive.
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I run read and write speed tests on every drive using USB Flash Benchmark and CrystalDiskMark. I also load HD and 4K movies onto each drive and play them on an LG OLED TV, make photo backups from phones and laptops, and copy files across supported devices. I have tested some drives as security camera backups, as NAS (network attached storage) in routers, for playing MP3 music files, and to load games and saves onto various retro consoles. Our top picks continue to be used regularly for file backups over months, so we can be confident that the performance does not degrade.
The funding will be used to expand Evervault’s encryption infrastructure, invest in product development, and grow its engineering and product teams.
Evervault, a data encryption start-up founded by Irishman Shane Curran, has raised $25m in Series B funding.
The round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Next Play Ventures and new investors including Operator Partners. The new round brings the start-up’s total funding to date to $46m.
Evervault builds developer infrastructure to collect, process and share sensitive data.
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The New York and Dublin-based company helps businesses to encrypt and orchestrate sensitive data without ever handling it in plaintext.
“Most compliance frameworks assume sensitive data will exist in plaintext somewhere, but with automated, high-velocity data exchange, that’s a liability,” said Curran, who is also CEO of the company.
“At Evervault, we believe sensitive data should be treated like hazardous material. Systems must be designed so it isn’t touched in the first place.”
Evervault has initially focused on card payments security with a solution that combines encryption with 3D-Secure authentication, network tokens and card data enrichment in a single integration, along with streamlining payment card industry (PCI) compliance.
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The company claimed that on average, its solution helps customers cut PCI data security standard compliance costs by $100,000, achieve compliance 95pc faster and ship secure payment systems “in days rather than weeks”.
The start-up said that since its establishment, it has processed more than $5bn in transaction volume and secured more than four times year-over-year revenue growth.
“Our mission isn’t just about payments,” said Curran in a blogpost announcing the raise yesterday (5 March). “We’re building the trust layer for the internet: a global clearinghouse for sensitive data. A place where companies can share, enrich and route information without taking custody of it. We’re replacing contractual trust with cryptographic guarantees.”
The new funding will be used to expand Evervault’s encryption infrastructure, invest in product development, and grow its engineering and product teams, according to the start-up.
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Founded in Dublin in 2019, Evervault’s roots can be traced back to the 2017 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition where Curran took home the top prize for his project qCrypt, which was a quantum-secure, encrypted data storage solution with multi-jurisdictional quorum sharing.
Curran previously spoke to SiliconRepublic.com’s Ann O’Dea at a Future Human pop-up event in 2020, where he discussed his experience as a young entrepreneur and the Irish business contingent in Silicon Valley.
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Netflix’s library of streamable party games is expanding today with a custom version of Overcooked! All You Can Eat. Netflix launched its cloud gaming program with games like Lego Party and Tetris Time Warp, but Overcooked feels a bit unique because it features a roster of Netflix-affiliated characters from KPop Demon Hunters and Stranger Things.
For the uninitiated, Overcooked plays like a more manic version of Diner Dash, where teams attempt to prepare food together in increasingly elaborate kitchens filled with obstacles. The original version of Overcooked! All You Can Eat was released in 2020, and includes DLC and stages from previous versions of the game. Netflix’s version bundles in the same content, and “10 Netflix celebrity chefs” including “Dustin, Eleven, Lucas, and the Demogorgon from Stranger Things,” and “half-dozen faces from KPop Demon Hunters,” like “Mira, Rumi, Zoey, Jinu, Derpy and Sussie.” Like Netflix’s other streaming games, playing Overcooked also requires you to use a connected smartphone as a controller.
As part of a Year in Review blog detailing changes Valve made to Steam in 2025, the company shared a minor update on its hardware plans that doesn’t sound good for anyone hoping to buy a Steam Machine, Steam Controller or Steam Frame in 2026. Specifically, the company is now opening up the possibility its new hardware won’t ship this year at all.
In February, when Valve acknowledged the ongoing memory and storage shortage had delayed the launch of its hardware and could lead to higher prices, the company was still committing to a (fairly wide) window of when its hardware would ship:
“Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change.”
As of the company’s latest post, however, things somehow sound even less certain. “We hope to ship in 2026, but as we shared recently, memory and storage shortages have created challenges for us,” Valve wrote in its Year in Review post. “We’ll share updates publicly when we finalize our plans!”
While Valve’s air of secrecy can make it easy to read too much into the limited information the company does share, moving from “the first half of the year” to “[hoping] to ship in 2026” certainly gives it wiggle room to not release new hardware this year. And considering the difficulties other companies are facing sourcing memory and storage, it wouldn’t be all that surprising.
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HP said in February that RAM accounts for a third of its PC costs, and industry analysts expect the RAM shortage could radically alter the PC landscape as companies are forced to raise prices. Valve’s already struggling to keep the Steam Deck in stock due to its issues securing RAM, it stands to reason sourcing components for even more devices wouldn’t make that process any easier. Then again, the company hasn’t updated its launch timing FAQ, so there’s still reason to hope the Steam Machine ships in 2026.
When thinking of humanity’s ability to harness wind energy, many people will conjure images of windmills from places like The Netherlands or Persia. But people have been using wind energy for far longer than that in the form of sailing ships. Using the wind for transportation goes back another four thousand years or so, but despite our vast experience navigating the seas with wind alone there is still some room for improvement. Many modern sailboats use a number of different pulleys to manage all of the rigging, but this new, open-source pulley can replace many of them.
The pulley, or “block” as they are sometimes called, is built with a polymer roller made out of a type of nylon, which has the benefit of being extremely durable and self-lubricating but is a bit expensive. Durability and lack of squeakiness is important in sailing applications, though. The body is made from CNC-machined aluminum and is composed of two parts, which pivot around the pulley’s axis to allow various ropes (or “lines”) to be inserted without freeing one end of the rope. In testing, this design outperformed some proprietary stainless steel pulleys of similar size.
Another perk of this design is that it can be set up to work in many different applications on a sailboat, whether that’s for hoisting a mainsail or pulling in a jib or any other task a pulley could be used for. It can also be stacked with others in many different configurations to build custom pulleys of almost any type, and can support up to 14 mm lines. For a sailor this could be extremely valuable, because as it stands each pulley on a ship tends to be used in only certain applications, and might also be proprietary from a specific company. This pulley is being released into the open-source world, allowing anyone to create them who wants one.
Seagate introduced the Mozaic 3+ platform in 2024, turning the heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) dream into a real product for customers in need of massive storage capacities. The HDD maker is now introducing the next-generation Mozaic 4+ drives, which offer capacities up to 44TB. Read Entire Article Source link
Apple has made it pretty clear that it wants to siphon off Android and Windows users, and it’s doing it by adopting an aggressive, “budget-friendlier” model across nearly its entire ecosystem.
Apple is using $599 devices to grow its ecosystem
When I first entered the Apple ecosystem, it was when I bought an iPhone 4 in 2011 — I got it right after the 4s made its debut. I don’t remember exactly what I paid, but I know it was less than the initial $199 price tag. And back then, I thought that was a completely asinine amount of money to pay for a phone. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I had more money in my pocket than brains in my head, so I bought it just the same. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Anthropic confirmed it has been designated a ‘supply chain risk’ by the US administration, and said it has no choice but to challenge in the courts.
Despite ongoing talks between Anthropic and the US Department of Defense, Anthropic confirmed last night it had received a letter from defense secretary Pete Hegseth confirming the ‘supply chain risk’ designation that had been threatened.
“Yesterday (March 4) Anthropic received a letter from the Department of [Defense] confirming that we have been designated as a supply chain risk to America’s national security,” wrote co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei last night in an official statement. “We do not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”
Amodei was quick to point out that “even supposing it was legally sound”, the limited application of the designation means the “vast majority” of its customers will be unaffected by the move. He said the restriction clearly only applied to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the US defense department, “not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts”.
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“The Department’s letter has a narrow scope, and this is because the relevant statute is narrow, too,” wrote Amodei. “It exists to protect the government rather than to punish a supplier.”
As with previous statements, Amodei strikes a conciliatory tone, saying Anthropic is committed to US national security and will offer continuing support from its engineers to ensure a smooth transition from Claude “for as long as we are permitted to do so”.
Anthropic drew the ire of the US administration after a standoff with the Pentagon, where Anthropic refused to change its safeguards related to using its AI for fully autonomous weapons, or for mass surveillance of US citizens.
With many in Silicon Valley supporting its relatively principled stand, and general users sending it to the top of the US Apple charts in recent days for free downloads – beating OpenAI’s ChatGPT for the first time – its flagship Claude.ai and Claude Code apps went down for around three hours on 2 March due to “unprecedented demand”.
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Claude Cowork in particular was already becoming the darling of AI enthusiasts in the professional world, and Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Anthropic was on track to generate annual revenue of almost $20bn, more than double its run rate from late 2025, signalling the rapid growth at the AI company which is today valued at around $380bn.
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According to the plaintiff, Tinder charged users aged 29 and older more for premium subscriptions such as Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold, while offering cheaper rates for the same services to users in their teens and 20s. The lawsuit claimed the tiered pricing model violated multiple California laws, including the… Read Entire Article Source link
TriZetto Provider Solutions, a healthcare IT company that develops software and services used by health insurers and healthcare providers, has suffered a data breach that exposed the sensitive information of over 3.4 million people.
The firm, which has been operating under the Cognizant umbrella since 2014, disclosed that it detected suspicious activity on a web portal on October 2, 2025, and launched an investigation with the help of external cybersecurity experts.
The investigation revealed that unauthorized access began nearly a year before, on November 19, 2024.
During the exposure period, the threat actors accessed records relating to insurance eligibility verification transactions, which are part of the process providers use to confirm a patient’s insurance coverage before treatment.
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The types of data that have been exposed vary per individual, and may include one or more of the following:
Full names
Physical address
Date of birth
Social Security number
Health insurance member number
Medicare beneficiary identifier
Provider name
Health insurer name
Demographic, health, and insurance information
Affected providers were alerted on December 9, 2025, but customer notification started in early February 2026. According to a filing Maine’s Attorney General submitted today, the number of exposed individuals is 3,433,965.
TriZetto says that payment card, bank account, or other financial information was not exposed in this incident.
Also, the company is not aware of any cases where cybercriminals have attempted to misuse this information.
TriZetto says it has taken steps to strengthen cybersecurity on its systems and informed law enforcement authorities of the incident.
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Notification recipients are offered free 12-month coverage of credit monitoring and identity protection services from Kroll to help mitigate risks arising from compromised data.
BleepingComputer has contacted TriZetto to learn more about the nature of the security breach and why the firm delayed notifications to consumers for several months, but we have not received a response by publication time.
No ransomware groups have taken responsibility for the attack yet, and no data leaks linked to TriZetto have appeared on underground forums.
Cognizant itself was rumored to have suffered a Maze ransomware breach in 2020. In June 2025, Clorox sued the IT firm for gross negligence after it allegedly let Scattered Spider operatives into its network following a social engineering attack in September 2023.
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Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.
Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.
Ubisoft has finally confirmed what Assassin’s Creed fans have suspected for years: a remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is officially in the works.
The company revealed the project, titled Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, in a new blog post outlining the future of the long-running series.
We don’t know much about the game yet, but initial reports suggest that Resynced will be a full remake rather than a simple remaster, with upgraded visuals and gameplay improvements, bringing one of the best AC games into the modern age.
It’s also suggested that new story content will be added to flesh out the world around Edward Kenway’s life – at the expense of the modern day gameplay, which has apparently been removed from the remake altogether. It’ll be interesting to see how this all works, given how the original game weaved parts of both storylines into the ending.
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We’ve known for quite some time that Ubisoft has been thinking about breathing life into the 2013 game, but this was more or less confirmed when the name surfaced on a European ratings board listing late last year.
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We don’t yet have a release date for the game, but we know that an unannounced game was due to arrive before the end of the current financial year. Of course, Ubisoft delayed seven games earlier this year – and Black Flag is expected to be one of them.
Whether or not we see the game before the end of 2026 remains to be seen, but for now we’ll keep our “spyglass on the horizon”.
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