Dodgy USB sticks are ripping you off

Stefan Mileschin · 8th February 2024, 08:14

Naff NAND

A new report from German data rescue firm CBL has found that the quality of USBs using NAND chips from posh brands are getting worse, with less space and their makers' logos rubbed out.

What's more, some USB sticks use the old trick of soldiering a microSD card on the board.

According to TechSpot, most of the rubbish USB sticks CBL looked at were freebies, the kind you get with stuff or from firms at meetings. But some "branded" products were just as bad, though CBL didn't say if these were big names or the kind you've never heard of.

Tech changes have also hit these NAND chips, but not for the better. The chips used single-level cell (SLC) memory bits that only stored one bit each, giving less data but better speed and reliability.

To make the chips hold more, makers started using four bits per cell (QLC), making them weaker and shorter-lived.

https://fudzilla.com/news/58400-dodg...ipping-you-off

8th February 2024, 08:14	#1
Stefan Mileschin [M] Reviewer Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania Posts: 153,575	Dodgy USB sticks are ripping you off Naff NAND A new report from German data rescue firm CBL has found that the quality of USBs using NAND chips from posh brands are getting worse, with less space and their makers' logos rubbed out. What's more, some USB sticks use the old trick of soldiering a microSD card on the board. According to TechSpot, most of the rubbish USB sticks CBL looked at were freebies, the kind you get with stuff or from firms at meetings. But some "branded" products were just as bad, though CBL didn't say if these were big names or the kind you've never heard of. Tech changes have also hit these NAND chips, but not for the better. The chips used single-level cell (SLC) memory bits that only stored one bit each, giving less data but better speed and reliability. To make the chips hold more, makers started using four bits per cell (QLC), making them weaker and shorter-lived. https://fudzilla.com/news/58400-dodg...ipping-you-off

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