This USB stick has a self-destruct button

The Russian conglomerate Rostec has announced a particular USB stick, capable of… self-destructing. In fact, the drive integrates a detonator which, if activated, destroys the NAND chips on which the data is stored. This detonator can be activated manually and according to the company it is completely safe for the end user, as the USB stick remains intact and the only component to suffer damage is the NAND memory.

“We have created a device capable of better protecting information from unauthorized access: the inability to recover data has been certified ”said Igor Nasenkov, chief executive of Technodynamika, the company behind the development of this particular key. “In the future, the device will be tested to withstand climatic factors, mechanical shocks and the security of long-term stored data. We will also work on different options, suitable for different situations. ”

Credit: Rostec At the moment Rostec has shown only a few prototypes of the key, however declaring that it can customize performance and capacity as needed. Another aspect not clarified by the group is how they plan to prevent accidental activations of the detonator, which would lead to unwanted data loss, a factor that could potentially have disastrous consequences.

Modern storage drives allow for delete the entire contents of the memory very quickly, they also allow you to protect the data present with AES-256 encryption and can destroy the decryption key to keep the data safe. Today it is practically impossible to overcome this security system in acceptable times, however the solution proposed by Rostec could be the one that suits the most paranoid, who do not want to leave anything to chance and do not even trust the most sophisticated encryption systems. .