USB Thumb Drive - Storage, Tips and Security

There is a substantial abundance of good old USB thumb drives in today's technology market. Some devices are faster, offer better compression and are generally just better than their competitors but are they really a safe means to store your information?
A developer of the technology know as 'Corsair' has stated that is has come up with a great solution to the problem of security with the tiny devices. They force you to enter a unique code into the thumb drive before you can even access the data. While the idea is great on paper does it really assist with security?

The technology that locks the device is known as a 'flash padlock' and it protects all the the files and data stored on the device. The code isn't entered on screen but on a small touchpad on the actual device itself! The technology is said to be very resistant to aggressive password hacking attempts and is pretty much immune to keylogging:

A keylogger is a type of virus that stores any key press entered into your computer. It is commonly used by data thiefs to access accounts ranging from something as basic as an online gaming account all the way to something life-critical as an online bank account. Thankfully it is almost impossible now for thief's to access online bank accounts due to the 'Verified by Visa' and similar technology.

With the new Corsair technology, it asks you to enter the keyword before the device is even plugged in to the computer thus rendering it immune to keylogging software.
The 'Flash Padlock' system automatically locks after a few seconds of it being removed from a PC. This is great because the information contained on the device will be locked away tightly even if it is instantly swiped from the hands of it's owner by a thief. Any devices that integrate this technology will work on any PC or Mac that supports USB technology.

At the time of writing the Flash Padlock technology is available in both a 8gb and 16gb model. While this is certainly nothing compared to the recent terabyte disk drives that are starting to appear it still allows for pretty much all office documentation to be stored - unless the office in question specializes in digital video!
As with every USB Thumb Drive technology, the Flash Padlock may certainly be secure but it is by no means more or less durable than its bretheren. One of the most common causes of damage to the small devices is said to be the USB port itself or a tiny break in the port of the device. When a user bumps into the device while it is plugged in, even if it is seemingly just a tiny 'push', damage can be caused to the device. Despite the external durable nature of the tiny devices you will find that the inside of it is no more durable than the insides of a PC itself.
Unfortunately this results in a error message such as 'Unknown Device'. This is when you should start to panic as the chances are that all the data is lost on the device and is unrecoverable. You can hire a data recovery company to attempt to recover the data but the chances are they won't be able to do anything about it.
So how can you counteract this risk of damage? Follow these simple steps:

Ensure that when the device is plugged in that it never gets touched unless it is being taken out.
Always put the 'lid' on the device when it is not being used.
Use the correct method in windows to unload the device by clicking on 'Remove Device Safely'.
Invest in a USB Thumb Drive known as 'Flash Survivor' which is said to be much more durable than similar devices.