Those who actively use flash drives in the course of their work have probably thought more than once about the question of how to protect the device and the information stored on it. Protect against viruses that can infiltrate the drive if it has to be connected to other people's computers. Protect, perhaps, from the deliberate actions of colleagues at work, eager to destroy the stored information. Protect from children. You can protect yourself at least from viruses and childish pranks using a mechanical write protection switch, if the flash drive provides one. If there is no such switch, you can resort to software analogues of such a mechanism. And if necessary, also enhance the security of stored information. About this, in fact, we will talk further.

How to protect a flash drive from viruses and erasing information

Ratool program

Protect removable drives- flash drives, SD cards, optical discs- from recording not necessary information and deleting, on the contrary, the necessary information can be done with a small portable program called Ratool. It can be downloaded for free from the developers website:

https://www.sordum.org/8104/ratool-v1-3-removable-access-tool

Two main features of the program:

Prohibition of writing data to the media and blocking the deletion of existing data;

Complete blocking of the carrier.

We start Ratool. To prohibit writing to a USB flash drive and deleting data from it, in the program window, select the item "Allow read only". Click the "Apply Changes" button.

We will see a notification that says that in order to apply the changes made, the flash drive needs to be reconnected. We press "Ok".

Remove the flash drive from the USB port and insert it again. Now when you try to copy files to a USB flash drive in Windows Explorer this process will freeze at 0% and will not move forward in any way.

And when deleting files from a flash drive, the operation will simply be ignored. But Total Commander who wants to work unauthorized with our flash drive will tell about what is happening. When copying files inside file manager we will see a message that, they say, there is no access.

And when you try to delete data, Total Commander will ask you to remove the write protection.

Ratool, if necessary, can block the flash drive completely - make it so that the computer will not detect it at all. To do this, in the program window, select last paragraph"Block USB stick» and apply the changes.

And, as in the previous case, reconnect the flash drive.

To return everything back - to make the USB flash drive defined by the computer or to allow data writing - in the Ratool window, select the first item "Allow reading and writing ...", apply the changes and reconnect the media.

From savvy third parties who can reveal the secret of protecting a flash drive from writing, Ratool has the ability to access the program if you enter a password.

The simple and convenient mechanism of operation of Ratool, alas, is not without flaws. Carried out by means of this program, the media blocking applies only to the current computer device. On another PC, on another laptop, the flash drive will not be write-protected. On any new device, you will have to run Ratool and carry out an operation to disable data recording regarding this particular device. Fortunately, the program weighs very little, so you can put it on a USB flash drive and always carry it with you. Ratool is a program for Windows, it starts from an EXE file, therefore, it will not help in cases of connecting a flash drive to computers based on other operating systems.

Windows Local Group Policy Editor

Ratool, in fact, is a simplified mechanism for blocking removable storage media, which can be implemented on your personal or work computer using Windows itself - using the Group Policy Editor. The latter cannot be used in the editorial Windows home, but in the Pro edition, you can use it to block flash drives, SD cards, optical drives and other drives for both all and individual accounts computer. How to work with the editor in principle and in terms of creating restrictions only for individual users is considered in detail. In its paragraph 3, a method for disabling data writing to removable media is described.

Even the first method, not to mention the second, is good when the flash drive is used in a limited circle of Windows computers. If the circle of computers is wide, other actions will be more appropriate. You can, for example, secure a USB flash drive from the possibility of malware penetration in a separate way. Well, it is advisable to replace the issue of blocking the possibility of deleting data by third parties with the issue of restricting access to drive data in principle.

Flash drive virus protection

The mechanism for writing special hidden files with size zero. They have the names and extensions of autorun files, which are usually disguised as malware, and are not deleted or overwritten. They are simply stored on a flash drive without taking up space. If the virus tries to overwrite them, it will fail to do so. For example, the free portable utility Flash Defender can create such fake files, you can download it on our website. cloud storage link:

But since we need a universal way to access flash drive data, it cannot be considered in this context. BitLocker is not available in the Windows Home edition, the dominance of which we can observe on many OEM-devices of the inhabitants. Cross-platform program TrueCrypt can offer a universal method of protection. It encrypts the media, password-protects access to it. She can work with Windows systems(including the portable version), Mac and Linux. We considered in detail the work of this program in articles about "" and.

It's always like this with security. It’s worth relaxing and, after chatting with a friend, you insert his flash drive into your well-functioning computer, and to Kaspersky’s question - should we check this flash drive, you carelessly answer - no need ... And then you get entertainment for the whole weekend ...

And even more often there is another situation - when you have to insert your USB flash drive into someone else's computer. This is not necessarily the computer of friends, friends, now you can pick up a virus in a photo printing studio, and even in a tax office ...

In this article I will tell you how to protect your computer and flash drive from viruses without additional programs.

You will learn 3 time-tested quality methods that save in most cases.

Do not go into the registry if you have never done this and have a poor idea of ​​how a section differs from a parameter, and how parameters are created and their values ​​\u200b\u200bchanged!

1. Protecting your computer from viruses on a flash drive. Disable autoload.

Let's start by first protecting your computer from infected flash drives. You never know where we ourselves inserted our flash drive, or someone came to us with an unknown flash drive ...

To reliably protect your computer from viruses on USB flash drives, it is enough to disable autoload (autorun) on all disks connected to the computer. To do this, you can use special programs (Anti autorun), or make simple settings.

Anti-autorun is a program for protecting flash drives, memory cards, mp3-4 players and other removable storage media from viruses.

All further actions done with administrator rights.

Ways to protect your computer from autostart on flash drives

1. Disable autorun in group policies

Open the Local Group Policy Editor:

Start - Run (Win + R) - gpedit.msc or start typing "group" in the search bar

Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - All Settings - Disable AutoPlay

Right click - Change - Enable - All Devices - Apply.

2. Disable autorun using the registry editor

You can also completely disable autorun from all disks using the registry editor.

Launch Registry Editor (Win+R). Open a branch

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

and in the value of the binary parameter " NoDriveTypeAutoRun”, and instead of “95” (or “91”) write “FF”.

Valid key values:
0x1 - disable autorun on drives of unknown types
0x4 - disable autorun of removable devices
0x8 - disable autostart of non-removable devices
0x10 - disable autorun network drives
0x20 - disable autorun CD drives
0x40 - disable autorun of RAM disks
0x80 - disable autorun on drives of unknown types
0xFF - disable autorun for all drives.

In Windows XP, by default, this key is missing (as well as the Explorer section itself), so you may need to create a corresponding section (Explorer) and the parameter NoDriveTypeAutoRun, which controls device autoloading.

All registry changes take effect after a reboot.

3. Writing to the script registry

The following method provides more advanced options for removing potentially dangerous security holes in the system, including those associated with autorun.

Create an arbitrary reg file (named noautorun.reg for example) with the following content:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\CancelAutoplay\Files]

«*.*»=»»

"NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:000000ff
"NoDriveAutoRun"=dword:000000ff
"NoFolderOptions"=dword:00000000

"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001

@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

"AutoRun"=dword:00000000

Then run given file, and answer "Yes" to the system's question about making changes.

Disable autorun temporarily (for example, in the absence of administrator rights), for the period of connecting the device (flash drive) by holding down the key Shift. At the same time, it is recommended to open the USB flash drive not through "My Computer" (otherwise autorun will work), but through Explorer.

2 Protecting the flash drive with autorun.inf

Once upon a time, to protect a USB flash drive from viruses, it was considered sufficient to create an empty autorun.inf file on it and assign “read-only” rights to it. In this case, the virus could not create its own autoload file there, since such a file already existed and had the appropriate attributes.

The essence of the method is to protect special file, which is responsible for the automatic launch of the program when the disk is connected to the system.

The file is called autorun.inf. Viruses love it.

The fact is that if you write a virus to a USB flash drive, and then specify the command to run it in autorun.inf, then the malicious program will be launched EVERY TIME when the drive is connected to the system.

So, to protect your flash drive, do the following:

Step 1. open text editor Notepad (Start-Accessories-Notepad).

Step 2. Copy these lines and paste them into Notepad:

attrib -S -H -R -A autorun.*
delautorun.*
attrib -S -H -R -A recycler
rd "\\?\%~d0\recycler\" /s /q
attrib -S -H -R -A recycled
rd "\\?\%~d0\recycled\" /s /q
mkdir "\\?\%~d0\AUTORUN.INF\LPT3"
attrib +S +H +R +A %~d0\AUTORUN.INF /s /d
mkdir "\\?\%~d0\RECYCLED\LPT3"
attrib +S +H +R +A %~d0\RECYCLED /s /d
mkdir "\\?\%~d0\RECYCLER\LPT3"
attrib +S +H +R +A %~d0\RECYCLER /s /dattrib -s -h -r autorun.*
delautorun.*
mkdir %~d0AUTORUN.INF
mkdir "?%~d0AUTORUN.INF.."
attrib +s +h %~d0AUTORUN.INF

You can select text with the mouse, copy it to the clipboard, then switch to Notepad and execute the paste command.

What do these commands mean? How does it work?

First, we delete files or folders that the virus may have managed to create by removing protective attributes from them.

it various types files named autorun, folders recycler and recycled masquerading as a recycle bin.

Then we create the Autorun.inf folder in a special way, containing a folder with the system name LPT3. Since the time of the unforgettable DOS, there have been a number of names that cannot be used to name files and folders, with which no operations can be performed. An example of such reserved names: LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, PRN, CONF , con, nul, AUX, COM1…. and others. Try creating a folder, say PRN. You won't get anything. You cannot create a folder using the usual Windows tools. But there is a way. It is he who is used in this script.
Line

mkdir "\\?\%~d0\autorun.inf\LPT3" means:

mkdir- command to create a directory.
\\?\ - this is exactly what helps to create a folder with a reserved system name.
%~d0\- designation of a specific directory.

If you specify f:\ instead, then it will be possible to run the script from anywhere, it will create it on the f: drive.
autorun.inf and LPT3 are the names of the directories to be created.

By the way, you can delete this folder in the same way, otherwise nothing. If you want to delete, run on the command line:

rmdir \\?\f:\autorun.inf\,

where f: is the drive from which we delete the "autorun.inf" folder.

One more point: adding attributes to folders is an additional protection.
Team attrib adds the following attributes to these folders: system, hidden, read-only, archive.

Step 3. Save the document to a USB flash drive as a .bat file. Required on a USB flash drive and always with the bat extension. The name can be anything, for example: locker.bat

Step 4. Launch Explorer, go to the flash drive and run the file.

After launch, a folder will be created AUTORUN.INF with attributes that protect it from recording and hide it from prying eyes.

Now, if you insert a USB flash drive into an infected computer, the virus will not be able to change the autorun file. Since instead of a file we have a folder, and even hidden and write-protected. Nothing will work for him.

But look: the virus can write itself to another place on the disk or change some file.

Therefore, without fear, insert a USB flash drive into your computer and - I strongly recommend - check it for viruses. The time spent on the scan is not commensurate with the losses that will occur after the system is infected with a virus.

I draw your attention: our protection only prevents changing the autorun file.

To protect another flash drive, vaccinate: copy the tablet file locker.bat to it and run it in Explorer.

3. Protection of the flash drive from viruses.

The protection is very high quality, in my opinion, the best, it has been tested by time and viruses, it saves in 99% of cases!

A flash drive made using this method, after contact with an infectious laptop, or rather with dozens of laptops, will remain crystal clear. So we do it without thinking!

1. Check the file system type.

We go to "My Computer", find our flash drive, click on it right click mouse, then select " Property"and we see this picture:

If you, like me, have an NTFS file system, then proceed to the next step. For those who have Fat32, you need to change file system. This can only be done when formatting.

Right-click on the removable drive and select "Format" - NTFS - Quick Format.

I hope you are aware that when formatting, all data will be deleted from the flash drive.

2. Create a folder for data.

Create an empty folder on the flash drive. For example - 'Data'

3. We close access to the flash drive.

Open the properties of the removable disk again, tab .

We see the "Allow" column with checkmarks. This means that we have open full access, you can easily create new files, delete, edit, and so on. Viruses from this are simply happy and skillfully use their freedom.

Since this case categorically does not suit us, we click on the "Change" button with the mouse. In the window that appears, uncheck all the checkboxes except for " List folder contents" and " Reading” and click “OK”.

Thus, we closed access to the flash drive. Now, if we want to create a new folder or file on it (or copy it), we will get an error. It will not work to perform the "send to a removable disk" function. But the good news is that the virus will not be able to register on a flash drive in this situation.

4. Open the access rights to the created folder

We need to return all rights to the folder that we created at the root of the flash drive, otherwise it will be impossible to work with it not only for viruses, but also for us. To do this, as usual, right-click on the folder and "Properties" - Edit, and check all the boxes in the " Allow».

After pressing the OK button, the virus protection of the flash drive is installed.

All data will be stored in this folder, they will have full access. You can always delete, create, copy, rename ... yes, you can do anything with files and folders. But viruses (more precisely, as I immediately said, not all, but 99% for sure) will not be able to do anything, since they automatically climb into the root folder.

Remember that it is much easier to prevent a virus on a flash drive than to repair damage later.

In everyday life, we quite often have to exchange information outside the home and without using our computer, which is easiest to write to a removable USB drive. But due to the fact that the Internet is now full of viruses, it is possible that when a flash drive and someone else's computer interact, the viruses, God forbid, located on the terminal, will migrate to your media. How to protect a USB flash drive from viruses will be discussed further. We will not consider methods related to the creation of executable codes, since it will be quite difficult for ordinary users to understand this technique, but we will limit ourselves to the simplest methods.

Why do you need removable media protection?

The same can be said about the situation when you have to, say, submit electronic declarations to the tax office. Where is the guarantee that the terminals that are supposed to read information from your device are not infected? Despite the protection methods used, they can also contain viruses that, before a certain moment disguised.

What if you are using someone else's flash drive on your computer?

We'll talk about whether to remove detected threats a little later, but for now, let's focus on how to secure your own computer terminal or laptop if you have to deal with other people's storage media.

Probably everyone has encountered the fact that when you insert a USB drive into the appropriate port, the operating system or antivirus software issue a request to check the media for viruses. Chatting with friends, many ignore such requests, believing that it is absolutely unnecessary. But in vain! Just at this moment, your computer device may be infected.

If the request has already been ignored, after determining the media by the system, use the standard scanner. How to check a flash drive for viruses? Yes, absolutely simple! Almost any antivirus embeds its commands in context windows menu. Therefore, through RMB on a removable disk, select quick check. At least, at least this way you can protect yourself from unauthorized intrusion of threats.

How to protect a flash drive from viruses: options for action

In principle, if we talk about the simplest protection methods, at least two main solutions can be distinguished among them: restricting access to the media in terms of writing information to it and blocking using special programs. In general, the technique used to be much simpler.

The fact is that viruses, as a rule, create their own Autorun.inf autostart files on removable media with the hidden attribute, which are triggered when the device is connected to the computer. The question of how to protect a flash drive from virus infection was solved quite simply. It was only necessary to create a similar empty file on the media and set the "Read Only" attribute for it so that the virus could not overwrite it. On the this moment some threats can bypass such restrictions, and additional commands must be written in the file itself. Although, as the simplest protection option, this technique works for some viruses.

How to put virus protection on a flash drive through the command line?

Let's start with one of the most simple methods protection, which can be somewhat complicated for an ordinary user, however, it almost always works.

For it, you will need to run the command line as an administrator, and then enter the lines shown in the image above, assuming that the letter of the desired removable media is "E". How it works? These commands block access to the autorun file you created, which was mentioned just above, which prevents it from being overwritten by a virus program when it tries to penetrate the media.

Using Write Permissions

The second method that allows you to solve the problem of how to protect a flash drive from viruses is to use access rights, but for a specific user. Please note that this technique can only be applied to media that have the NTFS file system. If the flash drive has a different system (for example, FAT32), the first step is to quickly format it to NTFS using standard Windows tools. As a rule, this should not be a problem.

At the end of formatting, you need to use RMB on the selected media and go first to the properties section, and then use the security tab, where the "Change" button is pressed. Here you can immediately see that access is allowed to everyone, and all checkboxes are ticked, and this is the most fertile ground for the penetration of virus threats. To get started, you can simply uncheck the read and content list boxes and save your changes. If you want to set access at the level of a single user, uncheck all the checkboxes, add a user and set the necessary priorities for him. Thus, access to the drive that could be used third party programs or users will be closed.

Bitdefender USB Immunizer

This program for protecting a flash drive from viruses is quite an interesting development and is quite easy to use. It is a portable application and does not require installation.

Just run the executable file, after which all the external devices currently connected. Select the flash drive you want to protect and click the appropriate protection button.

Panda USB Vaccine Application

The question of how to protect a flash drive from viruses can be solved quite simply by using such a utility.

It compares favorably with the previous application in that you can install protection not only on removable media, but also protect your own computer from viruses when someone else's flash drive is used.

Again, you just need to select the device and press the vaccination button.

Check USB for Threats

At the end of the topic, let's see how to remove a virus from a flash drive. As already mentioned, this can be done using the standard protection tool installed in the main computer system. However, this does not always help. If the standard antivirus does not detect anything, use portable utilities like Dr. Web CureIt, but choose removable media for testing.

The question of whether manual mode, has the simplest solution - fast or full formatting carrier. If the information recorded on it is needed, set the display of hidden objects in Explorer and remove all suspicious elements (first of all, this applies to just the same Autorun.inf file). If access to the file is blocked, use a small Unlocker program, change the access rights as described above. As a last resort, boot the operating system into safe mode and do the same.

You can refer to this software product, like Ninja Pendisk, which was designed specifically to detect and remove viruses that may be present on flash drives. By the way, the application will not issue a request to install protection, but will perform all the necessary operations on its own (this function is activated by default).

Outcome

In principle, any of the above methods sets the protection at the highest level and fully solves the question of how to protect a USB flash drive from viruses. Which of these to use, I think, is already clear. If you do not want to use third-party utilities, tools operating system enough, as they say, with the head. But many viruses have learned to bypass such protection, so you should not discount the use of portable utilities either.

USB Disk Security- this is free app to ensure complete protection against all kinds of malware distributed via removable USB media. The application works with external hard drives, memory cards, digital cameras, flash drives, and other devices that can be connected via USB. Disk Security is based on a special threat detection technology; as an anti-virus program, the utility is able to work in stealth mode, only letting you know about its existence only if malware is detected.

Basically, the infection of a personal computer with viruses occurs at the time of using the global Internet, a little less often it happens during the installation of a dubious or unverified program. An infected file can also penetrate a PC through the most common flash media.

When an infected flash drive is connected to a personal computer, malicious software infiltrates HDD, and most importantly, it happens so quickly that the installed antivirus programs do not always have time to respond in time. Especially for such cases, it is necessary to use programs that can easily cope with this type of threat. Today, Disk Security is one of the the best programs to protect against infected files distributed via USB drives.

If viruses are detected, the application, depending on the settings, will remove or block them, thereby preventing them from automatically launching. In addition, the utility is able to restore the system after it has been infected with malware, clear the hard drive of temporary files, prohibit copying files from the computer's hard drive, checking URL addresses, completely blocking USB ports, autoload control, forced scanning of hard drives.

The program is equipped with a convenient and simple user interface in Russian. The control panel is located on the left side of the working window, consisting of seven main items. The following sections deserve special attention: data protection, scanning and USB shield.

The last section is responsible for displaying a full report on all detected threats. You also need to take into account that the utility automatically removes any malicious application by default. So in order to avoid deleting important documents, it is better to disable this option, for example, after deleting the boot file, your USB drive will not be able to start. After disabling, Disk Security will act as follows - it will automatically move the infected file to quarantine or simply mark it.

In addition to tools for automatic checking of flash media, the "Scanning" section is equipped with a vaccination function. You can get vaccinated as removable media, and in fact personal computer. At the same time, a special file is created on the flash drive or on the hard drive, which prohibits the launch of some malicious applications. Vaccination can be turned off if desired.

The "Data Protection" section is able to provide devices with higher protection, for example, you can set a ban on moving data from a computer to a memory card or generally block access to a PC through USB port. To close access, you will need to restart your computer, only after that the settings will take effect.

Key features of USB Disk Security:

• Performing a more thorough scan external drives. If malware is detected, they are either removed or quarantined.
• Availability of a resident virus scanner, triggered when a new USB drive is connected. Without making changes to the settings, infected files will be automatically deleted.
• If necessary, you can completely disable automatic startup on the PC.
• When using the utility, it is possible to view content without the risk of infecting a personal computer.
• Websites are checked for infected applications. The following services are used during the scan: Trend Micro, McAfee, VirusTotal, Symantec, and Google.
• The linkzb.com search service provides an opportunity to use the Internet safely.
• The application is able to prevent unauthorized USB connection media to PC.
• Blocking the copying of unauthorized data to USB is performed through the use of the Access Control tool.
• Using the system for cleaning temporary files, if the virus is located in temporary directories, it will be removed immediately.
• You can set a password in the program settings.
• Full control over the applications included in autorun.
• The presence of a built-in system for restoring important directories in the registry that were affected by malware.
• You can download Disk Security for free.
• Runs on Windows XP, 7 and 8.
• Performed automatic check updates.
• The application does not need to update virus databases, as it does not work like a standard anti-virus program.
• Due to the small volume, the utility can be installed even on a weak personal computer.
• Full compatibility with many modern anti-virus programs is viewed.
• Using a multi-language interface, a total of 12 languages ​​are available.

USB Disk Security is a simple and effective program to provide complete protection against malware distributed via removable media.

Hello everyone, today I want to tell you the method by which a flash drive is protected from viruses by 100%. Well, at the expense of one hundred percent, of course I embellish, but at 99, just protect. Will be described as inline windows methods and with the help of third parties, free utilities, in short, it will be interesting, especially in the light of the latest sensational ransomware viruses, because no one wants to be left without their files and photos.

Flash drive without viruses

And so our task is to have a virus-free flash drive, with its frequent operation and use, on different computers and devices. Let's imagine a situation, Petya has a flash drive, or even a portable device with an ssd disk, what a waste of time. Petya has a lot of software on it, a lot of movies and music. He often visits his friends, since the evil Roskomnadzor blocked torrents 🙂, and everyone began to exchange information in the old fashioned way, thank God that this is just an example 🙂 and all torrents are plowed, well, Vasya had a virus on his computer, which, due to the security of the flash drive, got to Petya, and he dragged him home. If he has an antivirus program, okay, he will catch it, and if not, he will carry it to distribute it to all his friends, good Petya. But if he had a flash drive 100% protected from viruses, then everything would be different, below we will consider this.

Here are examples of errors that you may encounter if you have this virus. The first is Editing the registry is prohibited by the System Administrator

Or Task Manager is disabled by administrator

If you get such errors, check with an antivirus

Methods to protect a flash drive from a virus

Disable the autorun inf file

And so there are viruses that spread from auto start, due to autorun.inf file. The virus creates it on a flash drive with the necessary parameters. Knowing this information, we will create our own autorun.inf and forbid changing it by blocking access to it, no access, no virus.

And so you should have a flash drive, insert it into the computer. Open command prompt as administrator, I have already described 10 ways to do this, see the link on the left.

My flash drive has the letter D.

In 2011, Microsoft disabled the autorun of flash drives by default due to autorun.inf viruses. To prevent it, we will create a fake directory with this name and give it certain attributes.

In the opened window command line enter lines one by one

md d:\autorun.inf

attrib +s +h +r d:\autorun.inf

The first command creates a folder on drive D, and the second gives it the necessary attributes, for example h, makes it hidden.

Here's what it will look like hidden element, when you turn on the display of hidden files. If the display is turned off, then you will not see the folders, but you don’t need it, you did it and forgot it.

Everything after these are not complex methods, you protect the flash drive from viruses, auto launches, if you get an error that a file or folder has already been created, then you can see them at the root of your flash drive, before that turning on the display of windows hidden files, and then delete them and re-create.

Protecting a flash drive with Bitdefender USB Immunizer

And so the Bitdefender USB Immunizer utility, from one well-known manufacturer antivirus solutions. The program is completely free and does not require installation, its principle of operation is similar to the method described above, it also creates its own autorun.inf file, sets the necessary rights and monitors the entry malicious code. You can download Bitdefender USB Immunizer (http://labs.bitdefender.com/projects/usb-immunizer/overview/) from the link.

We go to the site and click on the healthy Download button on the right.

Run the utility and click i Accept.

The pro program scans your flash drives and displays them full list, unprotected flash drives will be red.

Click on the flash drive you need and the process of protecting it will begin.

After a couple of seconds, the flash drive will turn green, which will mean its safety.

I advise you to go to the settings and set automatic protection for all usb devices.

As you can see, it is also an excellent method of protecting a flash drive from viruses.

Security with Ninja Pendisk Utility

We continue further research and computer security and we have the next utility on the way, called Ninja Pendisk. The utility, which is also completely free and does not require installation, from the functionality it can

• scan flash drive for viruses
• auto detection flash devices
• diagnoses flash media for protection

As soon as you launch the utility, it automatically protects your flash drive from viruses. You can download Ninja Pendisk from the link www.ninjapendisk.com, go to the site and click Download.

After launching Ninja Pendisk, you will see a window prompting you to insert a USB flash drive.

As soon as you insert it, the program will automatically detect it and install protection, it will take about 3 seconds, and at the output you have a secure flash drive.

By setting the necessary rights

So if you do not need a program to protect a flash drive, then there is another method without using it. Its meaning is to put the necessary rights on usb device. You must have a flash drive formatted in the NTFS file system, it has long been included in Windows by default.

And so open start > control panel > folder options

In Windows 7, you can open my computer, press ALT, in top menu select Tools > Folder Options

Go to the View tab and uncheck the checkbox if it's worth using the wizard public access(recommended). We save everything.

Now create on your flash drive a Documents folder for example. Right click on the flash drive and select properties. Go to the Security tab, delete everyone there except for the everyone group, then select it and click edit. You will be placed on the so-called access list or professional ACL. We expose only jackdaws

• Reading and Execution
• List folder contents
• Reading

remove everything else.

Click apply, you will get a warning, click continue.

Now we go to the properties of the folder, also through the right click, the security tab. We delete there, as well as everyone except for the Everyone group, and we put all the daws on it.

Now, store all files in the documents folder and not a single virus can enter your root. When you try to write something, the following error window will pop up at the root of the flash drive.

The virus simply will not have rights, and in this way the flash drive is protected from auto-start viruses like autorun.inf. To return everything back, you can use the usual formatting.

Panda USB Vaccine Utility

If you thought that was all, then you were mistaken, there is also a cool program for protecting a flash drive called Panda USB Vaccine. Its principle is the same as its predecessors, but there are also advantages, such as disabling auto-start of flash in the system, although this can be done manually, let's download it, you can do it at research.pandasecurity.com. We start, you will be greeted by the installation wizard.

We agree with the license

We set the checkboxes, as in the picture below

All Panda USB Vaccine is installed, run it. As you can see, she found the flash media and there is a Vaccinate USB button on the right

The protection will start. After that, you will have the status of Vaccinated

To be honest, in my opinion, the best option is to use the method with rights for groups, and of course, you must have an anti-virus package installed in your system, any company you like, which will still insure you, since nothing stands still, including viruses