NEWS – Ovrdrive is a USB drive that has security features built in. You can choose to cause it to heat to 212° F and ignite a catalyst that you put in the device, or simply hide its partition and appear as a broken drive. If it gets funded via a Crowd Supply campaign, it could be available for $69 in the near future.
212° F is not an adequate temperature to damage the drive itself so customer chemistry would have to come into play for the drive to go bang.
From the Crowd Supply website:
“Ovrdrive USB is an open-hardware USB flash drive with an inconspicuous enclosure and a hidden security feature tucked away inside it. If you plug the device in normally, it will appear blank, but if you quickly plug it in three times in a row, you will be able to read and write data. We built Ovrdrive for journalists working in hostile environments, security researchers, and anyone interested in open hardware.”
I have a feeling the three letter agencies in the U.S. will be both interested in, and concerned about this device.
Once people recognize an Ovrdrive device, the ‘three-plug-in’ key won’t be adequate protection. That seems like someone having my house key and knowing my address.
But if you like pyrotechnical devices, here is the promotional video. (They didn’t blow one up but showed one heated up). The Crowd Supply website gives the full project details.
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Well I just found myself researching the stages needed to completely destroy this thing. Item 1 -> Item 2 -> Thermite.
Tho now I’m fairly sure I’m on a watch list for one or more THREE LETTER Gov agencies.