NewTech Infosystems released a new version of NTI Ninja™, a data security solution for users and manufacturers of USB Flash and other external USB drives. In addition to the user-adjustable partitioning, anti-tamper encryption and password protection that have made NTI Ninja so popular, the new version has been enhanced with a new level of convenience. Users can now access the secured data stored on their private partition from any PC, anywhere - there is no need to pre-install Ninja on the PC to access the users' private data.

Key Features

•    Creates a public partition & a private hidden partition on any USB storage device
•    Encrypts and password-protects your private partition
•    User selects the amount of workspace for each partition
•    Supports FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and includes a Quick Format option
•    Automatically detects & prompts you for your password when you plug in your USB device
•    Includes a password Hint when you need it

"Flash drives are ideal for the growing number of business people, students, and consumers who want to keep their digital data with them wherever they go," said Bill Yao, NTI president and CEO. "In addition to being able to store, protect, and share the information on these devices, users also want convenient access, and that is what NTI Ninja delivers. Users can now access the private data stored on their Ninja-protected USB device from any PC without having to pre-load the Ninja software on the PC."

According to Gartner research, the market for USB flash drives is expected to grow from $572 million this year to $1.7 billion in 2007. Unfortunately, the same features that have made USB portable devices so popular - their small, compact size - make them vulnerable to being lost or stolen.

While the password protection applications that are included with some flash drives offer protection against unauthorized access or stolen data, they create a problem for users that want to share data on their portable devices without having to reveal their password.

NTI Ninja provides quick self-defense against unauthorized access by using 128-bit driver-level encryption technology to create a private partition on the USB device. The user simply enters a desired size for the public partition and Ninja will automatically set the size of the private partition based on the total capacity of the USB device. After entering a password and a password hint, the user only needs to click Start and their new Ninja device will be created in a snap. With this approach, users can easily access and share commonly used data on the public partition while simultaneously hiding and restricting access to confidential data on the private partition.

NTI Ninja uses a triple data encryption algorithm (3DES) as the foundation for its128-bit driver-level encryption technology to ensure that sensitive data in the private partition cannot be accessed in case the drive is ever lost or stolen.