Lock up your Mac with a USB security key

MacBook Pro
Who needs passwords when you can just as easily lose a USB drive?

Mac owners with more than a touch of paranoia should head straight for the website of Moldovan security firm Rohos with any old USB flash drive at the ready.

On said site they'll find the oddly named Rohos Logon Key, which is a new (the OS X version at least) downloadable application that turns the USB drive into a key that can lock a Mac up tighter than Gordon Brown's wallet.

Stick it in

In operation, it's a simple matter of turning the computer on and inserting the drive at the logon screen.

After a few seconds the software kicks in and authenticates the key using a unique serial number attached to the USB hardware. In other words, it saves you the two seconds it takes to type in a password.

Windows too

Rohos says that its software doesn't actually store anything on the flash drive, as all the software does is look for the particular key associated with its lock. That means the drive can be used as normal, even if it's formatted for Windows or Linux.

Rohos Logon Key costs $29 (£15) and yes, there's a Windows version too. Just don't go losing that precious dongle, ok?

J Mark Lytle was an International Editor for TechRadar, based out of Tokyo, who now works as a Script Editor, Consultant at NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Writer, multi-platform journalist, all-round editorial and PR consultant with many years' experience as a professional writer, their bylines include CNN, Snap Media and IDG.