Kingston Technology has announced that its Kingston IronKey Keypad 200 series hardware-encrypted USB flash drives have achieved NIST FIPS 140-3 Level 3 validation, reinforcing the company’s position in high-assurance data protection.
The certification applies to both the KP200 and KP200C models and brings the keypad-based drives in line with Kingston’s IronKey D500S, which has already attained the same security standard. With this milestone, Kingston becomes the world’s first hardware-encrypted USB supplier to have three separate drive models certified to the FIPS 140-3 Level 3 specification.
The KP200 series is designed as an operating system-independent encrypted storage solution, supporting Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, as well as iOS and Android devices via USB-A or USB-C connectivity. This makes the drives well suited to environments where secure data must be transferred to and from equipment such as medical, scientific and industrial machinery that rely on USB interfaces.
The certification is particularly relevant for operational technology environments, with NIST recently recommending enhanced USB security controls in its Special Publication 1334 guidance. Kingston said the Level 3 validation process was the most rigorous and time-intensive certification effort it has undertaken in more than a decade.
Kingston said the FIPS 140-3 Level 3 certification positions the KP200 and KP200C as suitable for securing data at rest in government, defence and regulated industry environments worldwide. The company added that the drives can help organisations reduce the risks and costs associated with data loss or device theft, while supporting compliance with regulations including HIPAA, GDPR, NIS2 and CCPA.
The KP200 series includes support for dual administrator and user PINs, providing a recovery option if a password is forgotten. Additional features allow administrators to enforce a global read-only mode or enable session-based read-only access to protect against malware or unauthorised changes when used on untrusted systems. The drives are also IP68-rated for dust and water resistance.
The keypad drives are available in USB Type-A and USB Type-C variants, with capacities up to 512GB. Kingston also offers customisation options, including co-branding, and backs the products with a limited three-year warranty and free technical support.
