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Victorinox intros unhackable, self-destructible USB drive

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On March 26, 2010, 4:12 PM

Victorinox, known for making Swiss Army Knives, has announced a new "unhackable" USB flash drive that MacGyver would be proud to own. Claimed to be the best of its kind, the Secure Pro drive uses several layers of security, including AES256 encryption, and fingerprint identification with a thermal sensor -- you know, in case someone's desperate enough to lop off your pointer.


If that weren't enough, the drive is also "tamper-proof" and any attempt to open it by force triggers a self-destruct mechanism that irrevocably burns its CPU and memory chip. During the Secure Pro's two-hour launch event, Victorinox challenged a team of professional hackers to break in for a prize of £100,000 -- a sum that went uncollected.

The Secure Pro drive is available in three capacities ranging from 8GB (£50) to 32GB (£180), which also includes a built-in LED light, as well as a retractable ballpoint pen, blade, scissors, nail file, screw driver, and a key ring.

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User Comments: 36

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  1. If it has a built-in LED, why does it has a sticker stating that there is a Class II Laser product inside? Does it has both LED and Laser or just one of them?

  2. This is a must have. The badass in me won't have it any other way.

  3. Man i want one!!!

  4. Staff

    KristoZ, a laser wasn't mentioned in the press release, only a "LED Mini White Light."

    *Edit*

    After looking around, it does seem to carry a laser pointer as well.

  5. Alright...that's too cool. Time to break the piggy bank and get one.

  6. it looks as if you may pick light, laser, or none. I love that they have the "flight" version available as well, no blades but still has pen and light/laser.

    I'll be getting one as soon as I can find one.

    Victorinox site (plain flash no security): [link]

  7. chazz said:

    This is a must have.

    Indeed, this is a must have for any geek!

  8. Found the 4GB laser version for $88:

    http://www.tactical-store.com/ts-pz-fd-lsr.html

  9. pretty neat... but not $88 neat

  10. This thing looks epic! I've always wanted a swiss army knife, but i've never been able to justify buying one.... Looks like i can now

  11. My boss at the city of la's data service bureau got me a swiss army knife. Lost it about a year later.

  12. First glance I actually thought the device could induce an explosion. Either way, great product for storing passwords and the such.

  13. This is super cool! Now I know what to give away at our office party next month!

  14. a self-destructive usb??? That's just I need for my alter-ego

    I want one! I want one!

  15. At first site it looks neat and cool. I have been using a variety of Swiss army knives for over 40 years. I wonder what kind of mechanical strength the USB part has to be plugged into the front socket of a cabinet in cantilever fashion.

    With the weight of the knife I am sure either the pen drive will break or the socket will get desoldered.

  16. Is USB being hacked nowadays?... Nice security feature anyways...

  17. I need this, I need it so bad.

  18. this one could be used by the heads of states and national security agencies

    an indestructible USB and a knife- the ultimate combination! protect your data and yourself

  19. I want one! sounds like it should be in mission impossible with its auto-destruct thing

  20. Only one problem - you can't take it on an airplane!

  21. Totally want, and yeah, $88 bucks does seem like a lot, but I think it's worth it.

  22. With the weight of the knife I am sure either the pen drive will break or the socket will get desoldered.

    One of my first thoughts upon seeing this

    Only one problem - you can't take it on an airplane!

    Yet another one of my first thoughts. Luckily for me, my wife HATES flying so this would never be an issue for me. But for business people who fly all the time, this could be an issue.

  23. at http://secure.victorinox.com are the support page

    next week starts a online shop from Victorinox with new Prices !!

  24. Right, I couldn't help myself and yesterday I went and buy one of them. Got the presentation master model, 8GB, with the torch, blade and scissors for £53. By the way, there are single one with no accessories at all that are perfect for flying.

    the gadget came with a lovely 1m USB extension that make the configuration easier if you are doing it from a computer rather than a laptop. The clip that attach the usb to the gear is plastic, pretty sure that it will break at some point. The unit also came with a brand new "paper clip" to facilitate the insertion of the battery, in case you haven't got a paper clip at home or have donate all of them to the paper clip recycling foundation.

    It took me a whole frustrated hour or more to register two fingers. We use biometrics security at work, and I know my finger are ok, but for this memory stick, buf! it just doesn't read the finger properly. Every time I have been using it now I just put my passwd, cos the finger take 8/10 tries to accept it.

    The software built-in came with, to my view, with lots of nonsense like synchronising favourites from IE or even synch selected folder from you area (that are not encrypted anyway!)

    Finally manage to create a virtual encrypted drive, after lots of suffering and hanging. Happy to know though that my eventual data is secure on this drive, and tempted to open the unit at anytime, to see the smoke coming out of the usb when it self destruct itself, mission impossible 3, wow!

  25. Everything but the price is nice.

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