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FerFal, I though you might be interested in the latest Swiss Army Knife. It contains a secure thumb drive. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388761,00.asp
Dave
Thanks Dave,
Victorinox knives come in so handy that they have rightfully earned a place in our pockets.
I never stop recommending the Midnight Minichamp
which is one of the most useful, if not the most useful tool I carry daily. Everything about it is so well designed that it always seems to be appropriate for the task at hand. Everything from signing for the mail package received (usually something nifty to review J ) to opening the box it comes in, the Minichamp is there to make things easier. Where the bigger Leatherman Charge just doesn’t fit with its bigger screwdriver bits, the Minichamp just manages to reach it with its Phillips or flat screwdriver.This new Victorinox Secure has the basic blade, nail file with screwdriver, scissor, and some of the models include the retractable pen, an improved (brighter) LED white light or a laser pointer and Bluetooth connection for presentations.
What’s probably most interesting about all this and that I just learned is the cool security suite these USB Flash drives provide, packed with useful features. The Biometric USB 2 isn’t just encrypted, it also has a fingerprint detection feature. “What if someone cuts off my hand like in the movies”? Victorinox says you need to be alive for it to work because the Biometric USB also detects your oxygen level. Pretty neat, right? Even if someone tried to dismantle the plastic case and solder connections to bypass the security, the Flash Drive will self-destruct. During the presentation of the Secure Flash Drive a $250.000 reward was presented to various hackers. None managed to crack the flash drive.
Victorinox Swiss Army 8GB Secure (Ruby)
$89.99All this security may seem a bit excessive but for people with certain type of mindset it’s exactly what we are looking for. The greatest disadvantage of carrying a USB with our important data, personal information and copies of our passports, birth certificate, insurance number, etc was the fear of it getting lost or falling in the wrong hands, so I happen to find this pretty interesting. Reading the reviews in Amazon I read about people that forgot it in a pocket and had it go into the washing machine, someone lost it in the front yard for a about a week, accidentally ran over it with their car, and the USB still worked.
The software being as practical as anything you can expect from Victorinox, can be used to secure your computer and syncs with your PC files. When traveling it leaves no trace behind when used in other computers (zero footprint capability) but takes along with you your Explorer or Firefox favorites.
There’s different models and some come without the blades so as to be taken onboard planes. If you want the one with the knife you can still remove the USB so as to take it on board and send the rest with your luggage.
Victorinox Presentation Master 8GB USB Fingerprint (Secure)
$109.99There’s a Victorinox Presentation Master
model that has a laser and bluetooth which combined with the USB allows you to remotely control presentations with forward and backward buttons found on the tool. The price of these varies depending on the model and storage capacity.
Join the forum discussion on this postFerFAL
6 comments:
ahem - does anyone else see the problem in combining all your most important personal data with a knife blade?
here in the U.S. we get confiscated pockettools cheap from TSA, lol.
glad you leave the expensive "prepping swag" for other bloggers... keep it real.
Hi, ...ahem...Izzit, the USB can be detached from the knife itself as I explained in the article, guess you missed that part before jumping. ;-) I for one like the idea of having that type of security for my personal data and already ordered one. My privacy is worth the 80 bucks, and I dont travel nearly as much as other people do.
Then of course this may not be something you have a need for if you dont travel, use other computers or ever expect to need to have certain information with you. I'm always concerned when I use other computers or wi-fi so this works for me.
FerFAL
The best bet for flying is to take a small, cheap multi tool and remove the knife blade.
The Leatherman Style, for example, makes this easy to do because the tools are held in place by simple hex bolts (or torx bolts).
Victorinox products are harder to modify as their tools are held together by pins and friction. It's easier to just grind off the knife blade on a Victorinox.
In either case, choose a small version, as TSA personnel don't like larger multi tools (they have been known to confiscate harmless bicycle multi tools, due to their size), and be prepared to prove to the TSA guy that you've removed the blade.
Please also research the ironkey.
the ironkey has the developed the only devices to obtain FIPS 140-2 Level 2 and 3 validation for some of their models.
it's a little bit more expensive to get an ironkey but you do get increased peace of mind when a company fully discloses the security measures because they know that their strategies are secure.
beware of snake oil when purchasing these devices, for instance it's great that you use aes 256... but where are the keys stored?
also read the "snake oil faq"
I would like to second the comment about the "IronKey" product. This is a USB storage device used by IT Pros when REAL security is needed. This product had won DOD approval and has been tested by hackers for flaws and has come up flawless to all forms of attack. One of the great features is that you can remotely wipe the drive should you ever lose it. The would be data theif needs to plug it in and allow it to access the internet inorder for the ironkey to allow access to its data. When it sees the Kill code it wipes all the data.
What's wrong with a run of the mill USB drive with encryption (e.g., Truecrypt)?
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