USB Blocker

Sure enough a great deal of data is nowadays mostly transferred via the Internet, but USB storage devices also have their slice of the pie. Malicious content, however, can easily end up on your PC without proper security, and in this regard you can use specialized applications like USB Blocker to prevent access without the master password.

Once the application successfully deploys on your computer, you can run it to see how it can protect your portable devices. All it has to offer can be found in a pretty compact window, with functions in plain sight. Aesthetics don’t really make it stand out from the crowd, but there are several themes to choose from, slightly changing button and background layouts.

The first time the application is launched, you need to use the default administrator account, which can be changed later on. Be sure to remember it, otherwise you can end up with blocked USB ports which can’t be accessed through any means. Don’t worry about USB mouse and keyboards, because they are not taken into account when blocking ports.

Unfortunately, the application doesn’t display a list of connected devices, and automatically targets all storage devices connected via USB. Only a couple of options are at your disposal, such as making content read-only, disabling, or bringing back to the normal state.

It would have been useful to be able to access the application’s lock functions from a drive context menu, or via hotkeys. However, there is a small tweak to make the whole experience more comfortable. Assigning a hotkey command to the application’s shortcut from the Properties panel lets you run the program regardless of your location.

All things considered, we can state that USB Blocker comes with good intentions, but it doesn’t really make you feel safe or in control. Any storage device connected via USB is targeted, with no possibility to at least view which are blocked, or the log of events in case unexpected events occur.