Use Encrypted Thumb Drives

If you need to store data on a USB flash drive, purchase one that has encryption software that is already built-in. The U-M Tech Shop sells Aegis encrypted flashdrives from Apricorn. Other vendors offer other encrypted drives.

Michigan Medicine has approved use of specified Aegis drives, as well as some Kingston drives available at Michigan Medicine Help Me Now locations.

Note: It is best to avoid storing sensitive university data on a thumb/flash drive when possible. The risk of loss is too great, and there are several secure cloud-based options that are preferable. For departments, the difficulty of controlling distribution and the updating and retrieval of authoritative copies of institutional data makes their use problematic.

See the Sensitive Data Guide for help identifying the right storage location for your sensitive data.