This way, you can erase sensitive data from wherever

Oct 1, 2014 14:01 GMT  ·  By

It is the belief of many people that there is no safe place on this earth for information, at least no safe place or device that happens to possess wireless or wired network/Internet connection of any sort. SecureDrives is definitely a proponent of this school of thought.

We say this because the company has created a solid state drive whose ability to self-destruct is pretty much second to none.

Well, maybe that's not quite true. We've seen plenty of HDDs/SSDs that can self-erase and even burn or otherwise destroy their platters/chips on command. It's how the command is sent that sets the new SecureDrives SSD apart from the rest: text messages.

The SecureDrives Autothysis128t

As you can see, the company didn't bother giving it some grand, tongue-tying or easily remembered name, because you can just start to refer to it by reputation. “That drive” or “it” sounds ominous enough.

In a nutshell, this is a solid state drive which you can order to self-destruct from anywhere on earth via a text message sent from your phone.

The SSD is always connected to the GSM network. Well, except when its integrated battery runs out of power, as hard as it is for that to happen.

But that can only come to pass if the drive remains disconnected from any power sources for a long, long time. Time in which the stored files can't be accessed anyway.

Now you may ask this: what will happen if the person who found or stole the drive manages to somehow block the GSM signal or tamper with it? What if they try to remove it from your computer (since this is an internal SATA drive, not mobile)?

The answer is automatic self-destruct. That's right, even if it's outside your ability to send a command SMS, it won't be breached. Probably.

When the drive isn't going overboard in the effort to kill itself (as in, when it's you using the system it's located in), the SSD behaves like any other secure drive with 2-factor authentication and 256-bit hardware encryption.

Possible uses for the SSD

Storing Bitcoin or other virtual currency is one possibility. Keeping work files and trade secrets on it is also an option, depending on what corporation or government organization you work for (policies might interfere with possible plans on your part to store high-profile files).

You'll have to be prepared to pay a lot though. The SecureDrives Autothysis128t costs £1,027 / $1,664 / €1,319.

SecureDrive Autothysis128t (3 Images)

SecureDrives Autothysis128t with config token
SecureDrives Autothysis128tSecureDrives Autothysis128t SSD close-up
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