The Untold Life of a microSD Card: From Silicon Wafer to Secure Erasure

From the outside, a microSD card looks boring. It is a black rectangle with a logo on top and some gold contacts on the back. You plug it in, it stores data, and as long as your photos or firmware or logs show up when you need them, you do not think about it again.

Inside, though, the lifecycle of that card is far more complicated. It begins on a mirror-polished silicon wafer, passes through a kind of semiconductor acupuncture ritual, goes through secretive factory software that “marries” the memory with its controller, and then spends the rest of its life slowly leaking electrical charge while you expect it to act like permanent storage. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it fails in the field. And sometimes it quietly forgets what you asked it to remember.

If you build products that depend on microSD cards—embedded systems, data loggers, cameras, industrial controllers, point-of-sale terminals—understanding that lifecycle is not a fun piece of trivia. It is the difference between a stable deployment and mysterious support calls six months after launch.

Where a microSD Card Really Begins

The story of a microSD card does not start in a retail box. It starts in a fabrication plant, usually owned by a NAND supplier such as Samsung, Micron, Hynix, or Toshiba/Kioxia. These facilities are some of the most controlled environments on earth. Airflow, temperature, and airborne particles are monitored more carefully than in most hospital operating rooms.

On a production line that costs billions of dollars to build, wafers are gradually constructed. Layer after layer of material is deposited, patterned with light, etched away, and doped with impurities. This is where the memory cells that eventually become your “32 GB” or “512 GB” microSD cards are physically defined. At this stage, nothing looks like a card. Everything looks like repeated patterns of tiny rectangles on a circular wafer of polished silicon.

Once the circuits are built, there is an obvious question: how much of this wafer is actually usable? That is where wafer probing comes in.

Nexcopy’s USB HDD “Fixed Disk” appears to act like a local hard drive, which can help teams operate in environments where removable drives are restricted.

In high-security environments, USB drives can be good and bad. What I mean is, the flash drive is essential for information deployment, imaging, and data transfer, but we’ve also heard time and time again how USB flash media can be a potential security risk. Many organizations address this by implementing Removable Storage Restrictions through Group Policy or endpoint security tools.

The problem? Those same policies that protect against unauthorized USB usage can also block your legitimate workflow.

The Common Roadblock

Let’s say your IT guys did crack down on Group Policy USB control. If your USB drive shows up to the operating system as “Removable Media,” it can be locked out entirely. That means:

• Imaging tools like Acronis True Image or Symantec Ghost refuse to write to it.
• Windows To Go won’t install or boot from it.
• Multi-partition booting won’t work in legacy BIOS environments.
• Secure facilities simply won’t let you plug it in at all.

The Nexcopy Solution

The USB HDD Fixed Disk is different. It’s configured at the hardware controller level to report itself as a Local Disk (Fixed Disk), just like an internal hard drive.

Why does this matter? Because most removable drive restrictions don’t apply to fixed disks. Did we crack the code?

• IT policy still holds for unsafe removable drives.
• Your approved, Nexcopy-issued Fixed Disk USB will mount and operate without special permissions.
• You can continue your deployment or service work without IT needing to rewrite policy rules.

Where This Helps Most

Review with pictures and video

When it comes to making a USB stick read only, or USB write protected, there are two options. The first is the original technology of using a physical switch to toggle on and off the flash drive writing. The more recent technology is a programmatical way to toggle the write protection on and off.

Why write protect a USB anyway?

Great question. There are two main categories of flash drive users;
A) the home computer user and
B) the corporate / business world. The home computer user probably doesn’t care too much about making a USB read only because their environment is trusted. They know who’s had the USB and they know the computers it is being plugged into. However corporate folks definitely care about making a USB read only.

Disclosure: This post contains one affiliate link to Netac products. If you use this link, you may earn a commission at no cost to you.

They have two main reasons why

1. They don’t want their data changed or manipulated.
2. They don’t want a virus to spread via their USB; it’s bad publicity and a security risk. Corporations don’t want those headaches.

Surprisingly this review has brought to light the way all flash drives should work.

Lake Forest, CA – [June 24, 2025] — Nexcopy introduces the Lock License USB drive as a secure, modern alternative to the USB write protect switch — offering firmware-level data protection with no physical toggle. A leading provider of advanced USB technology solutions, Nexcopy is emphasizing that the Lock License USB flash drive is a groundbreaking replacement for the traditional USB write protect switch flash drive. Built on a hardware-firmware architecture, the Lock License flash drive offers unmatched security, automation, and deployment capabilities for modern business and industrial use.

For years, one USB flash drive option was a manual write protect switch for basic read-only data protection. However, in today’s threat landscape, this physical toggle is not only antiquated but also vulnerable to human error and physical tampering. Nexcopy’s Lock License USB drive redefines secure data transport and storage by offering firmware-level, controller-enforced read-only protection which is always active from the very first use.

“The USB write protect switch is simply outdated technology,” says Greg Morris, President of Nexcopy. “Lock License is built from the ground up with enterprise-level features like automatic re-locking, password-protected access, command-line scripting, and zero backdoor access — something the switch could never provide.”

Why Lock License Leads the Industry

Is it worth buying a USB 3.1 USB flash drive?

The tech industry, tech nerds and tech blogs will definitely say that buying a USB 3.1 flash drive is worth it. After all, these blogs need something new to write about and new links to generate for affiliate advertising, but are these blogs reporting back valuable information before someone spends their hard earned cash?

Let us compare the write speed difference between a USB 3.1 flash drive and a USB 3.0 flash drive to see what information we can uncover.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) has different transfer speeds based on the version of technology, we did a write about that earlier. The USB 3.1 specification has a transfer rate which taps out at 1,250 MB/second (Megabytes per second). The USB 3.0 specification has a transfer rate which taps out at 625MB/second. Of course this is the theoretical maximum transfer speed. When anyone says “theoretical transfer speed” they are implicating all conditions are ideal. For example, the host computer has the horsepower and bandwidth to push that much data and the receiving device (in this case, flash drive) has equal throughput to receive that data. But is that the real world – is it worth buying a USB 3.1 USB flash drive?

Below are some images and here is the general order of what you will be reading:

• Screen shots of the USB device type (USB 3.0 and USB 3.1)
• Screen shots of benchmark software testing both USB technologies
• Screen shots of a real-world copy jobs using a Windows computer

From the screen shots below you can see a USB 3.0 flash drive and USB 3.1 flash drive. Both flash drives use an SMI controller for the USB 3.0 and 3.1 technology. These are the same high quality and higher performance controllers seen in iPhones and NAND memory used from Micron Technology. The NAND memory type is MLC (multi-layer cell memory) is slower than SLC NAND memory (single layer cell). Note: USB flash drives do not use SLC memory because the NAND memory price is too expensive and the SLC supply is very small. Flash drives are produced at mass scale and meant to be a low cost data transfer and storage tools – speed is not the #1 priority, despit all the marketing we read online.

Here are benchmark speed tests for both USB devices in discussion today.

The program has two test settings for benchmarking a speed test. One test setting is for the theoretical maximum speed of the device and writes data directly to memory without accounting for operating system and device overhead for were the data is stored. Think of this as a random write test to any available sector on the flash drive.

The second test setting is a write sequence which includes the operating system and device overhead cache for placing files in the file allocation table. This means extra time is spend during the data transfer to log where each sector is written along with the calculation required to write the next bit of data. This second test setting is more like a real-world experience.

Speed benchmark software is designed to provide a relatively quick summary of the device capability. So the first test setting is designed to show the theoretical maximum write speed or “burst” write speed. The second test setting is designed to show a more “sustained” write speed. Any benchmark software is designed to provide a quick and easy snap-shot of what the device can do – but can the device do it?

Readers can download the USB Scrub software for speed benchmarking their flash drives. The software is 100% free, no installation or sign-ups, and includes other cool features like registry cleaning and making image files of flash drives. USB Scrub download link

Sticky labels are not a professional solution to label flash drives. Today we look at an alternative for labeling a flash drive which suits the demands of a business and/or professional.

There is a clear difference between labeling your flash drive because of personal use and the need to label a flash drive which is sold, shipped or mailed to a paying customer.

A common method to label a flash drive is with a sticky label applied to the outside of the flash drive, or a paper merchandise tag with some notes about the contents hanging from the lanyard loop. Albeit a good method for a personal flash drive, not the most professional or durable flash drive label tag when sold as a commercial product.

It is a common requirement from a company to include more information about the contents of a flash drive than what the space of a sticky label or tag will allow. In addition, the durability of said label should withstand environmental conditions which surpass the limits of a merchandise tag. Examples include:

• Detailed instructions for how the flash drive should be used
• Software or firmware version information (longer than sticky label space)
• Medical compliance information about the contents
• Audit tracking of ownership / possession (longer than sticky label space)

From the examples above, the question becomes:

What flash drive label can be used which is professional looking while having the durability and space needed to print the information required?

The best flash drive label we have found is the plastic credit card sized label offered by Nexcopy.

The CC USB Label is a white PVC plastic product which is 85mm wide by 54mm tall and 0.75mm thick with a total weight of 4 grams. The CC USB Label is printable on both sides and includes a lanyard for connecting to a USB flash drive.

The CC USB Label accepts full color print and with a white background, each color is vibrant and great contrast for users to easily read the printed information. Using an eco-solvent printer, the ink is permanent and water proof. The information printed will last in various weather conditions and environmental conditions.

Nexcopy offers their eco-solvent LOGO-EZ printer for in-house production. Nexcopy also offers print services for those not wanting to invest in a flatbed eco-solvent printer.

The credit card size and the light weight of the card make it a perfect complement as a flash drive label. With double sided print capability, a company has a great deal of space to print the information required for their product.

From the image below, one can see the flash drive label is ideal for printed bar codes for scanning during product fulfillment, shipping and receiving. Printing a more precise image like a QR code could improve user experience, such as streamlining a product registration process or direct landing page for a how-to video for product instruction.

The plastic PVC material is ideal for printing color logos and highlighting specific information. Having the flexibility for color print lends itself to emphasizing certain bits of information the manufacturer wants the end-user to notice.

In addition, the CC USB Label allows custom branding to match the requirements from the marketing department to ensure branding compliance is matched – getting stuck with black only printed sticky labels or merchandise tags decrease the overall perceived value of the product and could fall out of compliance of a company’s marketing guidelines.

Although some of this information sounds overkill for a flash drive label, keep in mind this solution is designed for a business or professional who might be required to provide very detailed labels for the product in which the flash drive is associated with.

If anyone searches for “burn ISO to USB” they will get pages and pages of Rufus links. However, there is a big misconception with Rufus… it doesn’t create USB CD-ROM drives! Review Rufus with us now:

The only thing Rufus does is take a bootable ISO file and write the data to a USB stick. Basically Rufus will extra the data on an ISO file and write it to the flash drive. You can do the same thing with WinRAR.

There is nothing magical about Rufus when it comes to “making a CD” because Rufus doesn’t make a “CD.”

If you need to make a USB CD-ROM flash drive the best solution found so far, is the Disc License drive. The Disc License drive is a blank USB CD-ROM flash drive. Using their Drive Wizard software (free), easily write ISO files to USB. The resultant drive will be a USB CD-ROM flash drive.

Before we get into Disc License technology, we do need to clear up some points about WinRAR and Rufus software. WinRAR will extract all the files contained in an ISO file and write them to your USB flash drive; however, if the ISO is bootable, WinRAR won’t write the boot code. This is where Rufus does shine. The Rufus software will write all the files contained in an ISO file along with the boot code to make your device bootable. With that said, there is a clear advantage for using Rufus over WinRAR.

Does Rufus burn any ISO file to USB? NO.

Does Rufus make your USB flash drive read-only, like a CD? NO.

If the ISO file isn’t bootable, there isn’t much [more] Rufus can offer. A non-bootable image will display an error message saying “This image is either non-bootable, or it uses a boot or compression method that is not supported by Rufus.”

Rufus is truly designed for one thing:

A computer virus is something we all strive to avoid because we understand the consequences and the amount of time and energy required to restore a computer to its original condition. In a recent poll by GetUSB.info when asking users to name the top three ways a computer can get a virus, they responded with:

• Link from an email
• Link from an unsecure website
• USB flash drive

However, if Nexcopy has anything to do with the last answer, a computer virus which spreads by USB flash drive will be a thing of the past.

Nexcopy is a US company based in Southern California who specializes in flash memory duplication equipment, printers, FDA compliant flash drives, copy protection and now a road-blocking malware on flash drives.

A virus will spread via a USB stick because the device is writable. In fact, any device that is connected to a computer which is writeable could spread a virus; other devices such as external hard drives, SD cards, microSD cards, etc. all have the same potential for harm.

But what happens when you turn these storage devices on their head and not allow them to be writable in the first place? This simple yet obvious solution is a gigantic step in the right direction for controlling the spread of a virus via USB.

The Lock License flash drive designed and manufactured by Nexcopy is exactly that. The Lock License drive is a USB stick which is always write protected. The device doesn’t care what it’s plugged into, or when, or how, the Lock License drive will always be read-only.

A virus will spread in a very specific way. A virus is designed to scan newly connected devices and ping them to see if they can spread (if the device is writable). A new device is defined by any computer system when “power” is assigned upon connection, which, coincidentally is the same time the virus will try and spread.

USB flash drive duplicators are typically in production type environments because the equipment is being used to make hundreds or thousands of flash drives. Maintenance for USB flash drive duplicators is key to keeping the equipment operating at peak performance.

As with any flash memory duplicator system, there are no moving parts. This certainly makes it easier on keeping the gear in tip-top shape. Although there are no moving parts there are still cleaning steps one can take. There are three areas to consider for maintenance for USB Flash Drive Duplicator.

The USB socket of a USB duplicator receives the most wear-and-tear. The standard USB socket has a specification of 100,000 connection cycles. During that time, it’s possible dirt and dust can get into the USB socket. However, more likely will be plastic shavings form the USB stick itself found inside the socket. If a user connects a USB stick at a slight angle and with a bit of force, it’s possible some of the plastic inside the USB stick connector is shaved off and falls into the USB socket of the flash drive duplicator.

If this happens the quick, simple and effective solution is applying compressed air into the USB duplicator socket to blow out any debris, dust or dirt. By cleaning out the sockets you will insure a better point of contact between the pins of the USB flash drive and the pins of the USB socket.

Another common issue with USB duplicators are the sockets themselves getting lose from all the connection cycles during the production process. Inside each USB socket there are metal tongs which provide tension as the USB stick is connected to the socket. Over time, these tongs lose some of their elasticity and thus result in less tension. When there is less tension between the socket and device, it is possible a good connection is not made. By taking apart the duplicator and adjusting the tongs of the USB socket you can create good, strong tension.

Here is a close up picture of a USB socket from a USB flash drive duplicator made by Nexcopy. The red arrow points the tension tong. Using some sort of sharp mechanical tool, push the tension tong down towards the inner part of the USB socket. Do not push or bend the tong too much, but enough to create good tension when a USB flash drive is inserted into the socket. Apply this technique to all sockets of the duplicator.

The last bit of maintenance for a USB flash drive duplicator would be the internal fan and components. As with any computer, the internal fan will pull or push dust into the chassis and cover the components. The dust itself will not damage the components, but the dust will cover the components on the inside and make them run hotter than what is ideal. For this reason, it is a good maintenance step to open the duplicator unit and apply compressed air to the inside of the unit.

By thoughtfully and methodically applying the above maintenance steps your USB flash drive duplicator will continue to run for many years.

“The fundamental change towards how our flash drive works should draw attention for those looking for USB write protection for flash drives” says Greg Morris, CEO of Nexcopy Inc.

What is unique about the Lock License approach is whenever power is cut to the device, for example disconnection, the USB is automatically write protected. This is the strongest first line defense against malicious software or virus jumping onto a flash drive without the user knowing. It is impossible to infect a USB drive if the device is write protected.

Lock License flash drives require a password upon first use. This password is used to unlock the write protection and make the USB a read/write device. This feature provides a personalized solution for each business which uses the Lock License technology. There is no need to set the write protection after being unlocked because simply cutting power to the device will put the USB into its default state: A read-only device.

The Nexcopy Lock License USB flash drive has the following features:

• Default state of drive is read-only, a.k.a write protected
• User assigned password to remove write protection
• No password is required to read from the drive, acts as normal WORM device
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) to set password and remove write protection
• Command line utility for custom integration to remove write protection
• No back door password or feature from Nexcopy to unlock the drive
• Available in USB 2.0 and 3.0 technology and ranging from 2GB through 128GB capacities

Stan McCrosky, head of Sales, comments, “System Control manufacturers for waterworks, electrical utility and petroleum companies need a solution like this. The ability to load software or firmware to a hardware based USB read-only device gives system control companies an incredible amount of security for in-field deployment via USB. More importantly, the command line utility gives the manufacturers a secure way to unlock the drive and update the content remotely without the worry of the drive remaining read/write. It’s simply impossible for the drive to remain writable.” McCrosky concludes.

The Lock License USB flash drive is simple to implement. Steps include:

• Connect USB to a Windows computer
• Open either GUI or command line utility to remove write protection
• Assign a password to be used when removing the write protection
• Data load the drive as needed
• Eject drive from computer once copy process is complete
• At this point the USB is write protected at the hardware controller level
• The Lock License drive can be read (used) by any device on any platform
• Password not required to read data from the drive
• Password is only used when removing write protection to make the USB read/write

Nexcopy Lock License media is available in USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 technology and range it capacity from 2GB through 128GB. Nexcopy offers six body styles for the Lock License media with a wide range of body colors available for each stye, all available for custom branding. The six body styles include Oxford; a capless swivel style drive. Newport; a classic rectangular shape with cap. Lexington; a classic rectangular style with rounded edges and cap. Augusta; a shorter style drive with large lanyard loop. Huntington and Geneva which uses an aluminum body for more durability and also better suited for laser etch branding.

The Oxford style swivel drive is the in stock media Nexcopy carries for same day printing and shipping. Nexcopy inventories USB 2.0 media of 2GB and 4GB capacity and in stock USB 3.0 media of 8GB, 16GB, 32Gb, 64GB and 128GB capacities. The in stock Oxford media is a black body with white swivel clip with full color printing via the Nexcopy Logo-EZ USB flash drive printer.

The Lock License utility is available for download off the Nexcopy support page. The utility requires a Nexcopy licensed USB flash drive. The Lock License USB write protection is not a universal solution for any thumb drive, a Nexcopy drive is required in order to take advantage of the increased security the technology offers.

Official press release:

Read more about Nexcopy on this website.

How to Copy Protect PDF Files Outside Adobe Ecosystem

This article will overview how to copy protect PDF files outside of the Adobe ecosystem. A couple of things worth mentioning before getting into the details:

• Encryption is different than copy protection. Encryption is a technology solution where the PDF owner assigns a password to the document and after the user enters that password the user can do anything they want with the file. Print, share, screen capture, etc. The idea for encryption is the document being unattainable until a password is entered.
• Copy protection does not use a password and anyone can see the file. However, the file cannot be copied, printed, shared or screen captured. The idea behind copy protection is the PDF being viewed by anyone, but nothing can be done with the file. When people are searching for PDF copy protection, this is the solution most likely sought after.

Challenges with PDF Security and Copy Protection

PDF or Portable Document Format is an open standard. What this means is the document format was designed to be used in just about any document reader program. The goal for the PDF specification was to make the format as universal as possible. For this reason, it is a bit more difficult than one would think to copy protect a PDF file.

Windows comes pre-installed with Adobe Reader. In addition, Windows has embedded Adobe API code to read PDF files. Even if Adobe Reader was not installed on your computer, or uninstalled, the underlying code is still there to open a PDF. In additional to Adobe Reader (#1 PDF reader in the market) there are dozens of additional PDF reader programs. Again, the goal for all these readers is to open and read a portable document file.

Adobe copy protection solutions are very well known for being cracked. If you Google “Adobe copy protection crack” you will find pages of ways the Adobe security features are compromised. Here and here are two examples of Google search results with web pages dedicated to hacking.

The fundamental problem with copy protection are the lack of controls when viewing a PDF. Meaning a PDF content owner (you) does not have the control over Adobe Reader, or other programs, to stop the user (your client/customer/student) from printing, screen grabbing, sharing and saving.

The idea behind a PDF copy protection solution is a framework where the PDF can be opened and viewed, while you (the content owner) maintains control of the document.

Of course Adobe Reader, FoxIt Reader and others, will not provide the tools to block a user from printing or saving from within their program. In contrast, we need a “reader” or “viewer” with controls to block those functions.

With this in mind, it is difficult to provide a reader with these security functions. Most users who receive a PDF do not want to download and install another program just to read a PDF file. The ease and beauty of a PDF gets lost in that process. No longer is the PDF a portable document format. In addition, a software program that can be downloaded to view a PDF can also be downloaded by a hacker to be reverse engineered. There needs to be something more than just a secure reader/viewer to control the PDF.

The most secure way to copy protect a PDF file is to associate it with something physical. There are some software (only) solutions, but those are not as secure as a solution with something physical.

Understanding How USB Copy Protection Works

In this article we will detail how USB copy protection solutions work from a Southern California company named Nexcopy. Before we start there are important definitions we must all agree upon. As in today’s market place there are multiple vendors using the wrong definitions to explain copy protection.

Copy protection is different than encryption; although copy protection does use a form of encryption in the overall solution.

Encryption is scrambling up data and requiring a password to piece all the data together and display it. Once the password is entered the data can be viewed. The potential security issue is the user who entered the password can now do anything they wish with the files, print, save, share, etc.

Copy protection is different in two ways. First, there is no password required to view the data. Second, the files cannot be saved, printed, shared, streamed when viewed by even the most trusted user.

The later, copy protection, is what most people want when it comes to multi-media files like PDF, video, audio and HTML pages. Most users want the data to be seen by as many people as possible, yet the data cannot be saved, shared, streamed, printed or screen captured.

So with that in mind, let us review how the Nexcopy solution works for USB copy protection.

Key Features of Nexcopy USB Copy Protection

Here are six bullet points regarding features Nexcopy provides which others do not:

• Copy protected content plays on both Mac and Windows computers
• There are no Admin rights required to play the content
• There is no installation required on the host computer
• The content runs 100% from the flash drive
• The USB stick is write protect, so files cannot be deleted or changed
• The solution is both hardware and software, ultra-secure

The Nexcopy USB copy protection solution runs with the assumption the content owner does not want to share the data with even duplication service companies. It is assumed the content owner wants total control of the data before, during and after the USB duplication process.

Here are the steps for using the Copy Secure drives as the content owner: