A Mission Impossible-style Self Destructing Hard Drive Is Here!

One commonly occurring trope of espionage thrillers is the self destructing message. A spy will receive a message and then be informed of its volatile nature, and watch as it destroys itself in sometimes spectacular fashion. From Mission Impossible to the Bond franchise, these messages serve as a way to protect information given to spies, who themselves are under intense surveillance.

But in the modern world, thanks to our over-intrusive security agencies, digital technology and cyber criminals, we ourselves are now all under similar surveillance. Luckily for us, a company is now producing a data storage solution which employs some of these concepts of Hollywood espionage…

The Autothysis128 is a solid state backup data storage unit. However unlike other backup hard drives, it is designed not for easy recovery, but rather, easy destruction. The drive features several levels of security all designed to keep data safe should the drive be stolen, or at risk of falling into the wrong hands.

Among the most interesting of these features, is the ability for the drive to self destruct. If a user wants their data lost forever, they can simply send a text message to a cellular chip inside the unit, which then not only deletes the data, but also destroys the physical architecture of the device. Indeed the device is designed in such a way that its memory is deliberately fragile, and will be rendered unreadable if too much force is applied to its casing.

As well as this, the drive also synchronizes with a proprietary smartphone app which allows for greater security while in use. Features such as encrypted communications, random keyboards, motion detection and multi-layered PIN codes all add to the security of the storage unit.

While this is probably not the best place to store the data that you can't afford to lose, it could be very useful for users with information which they can’t risk going public. Private citizens, corporations, governments and other entities could all form a substantial market for this device, even if the original concept is inspired by rather outlandish Hollywood films.