From: adam@address.invalid
Robert Riches wrote:
> On 2012-12-19, Adam wrote:
>> One huge problem is that most people don't realize their flash drive is
>> fake, and assume that any data they've written to it is actually stored
>> there. This includes medical info and other literally critical data.
>
> There's a solution to the fake flash problem, if people would go
> to the trouble.
And if enough people were AWARE of the problem. I think it's fair to
say that the members of this NG are more "computer-literate" than the
general population.
> A couple of years ago, I bought four flash drives, labeled 4GB
> IIRC, with a maker other than Kingston.
Which is certainly one of several reputable brands... but how can you be
sure that just because it says "Kingston", it was actually made by them?
> The first thing I did
> was create a file almost 4GB in size of semi-random data on hard
> disk. Then, I copied that file to each flash drive and then
> attempted to verify it.
There are now programs specifically for verifying flash drives. The
most common (and also highly regarded) is a freeware Windows program
called "h2testw", which can also be run from a Windows VM if the VM has
USB access. There's a FOSS program called "f3" which is source for
"f3write" and "f3read". I'm not sure its testing and output is quite as
thorough as h2testw, but I'd trust its report of "no errors found".
> If it matters, verify it!
Definitely... and verify it BEFORE trusting any data to it. I do that
with any storage (HD, flash, RAM) before putting it into use. Also, do
NOT buy RAM (including USB drives and memory cards) from far-East
vendors on eBay. I've also found that flash drives given out as
promotions are often (unknown to the giver) fake. There's lots of info
if one Googles "fake flash".
Adam
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