Paranoid about your data? Short of swallowing your thumb drive, the Cryptek USB might offer your best shot at securing all of that sensitive information.
Based on the portable vault used to hide secret messages in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, the USB storage locks inside a secure cylinder case clad in an anodized aluminum shell. Five mechanical rings, each one containing all the letters of the alphabet, are built into the body, which you can manually turn to enter the password and physically release the drive. The password can be changed at any time, with up to 14,348,907 possible combinations.
The actual Crypteks USB thumb drive is 3.1 inches in length, with a solid aluminum alloy body and ribs along the side (which it uses to lock onto the case). You can plug it into any computer just like a regular portable storage, enjoying reading speeds of up to 24 mbps and writing speeds of 10 mbps. For added protection, you’ll have to know the password to access the content, since it comes armed with 256-bit AES hardware encryption. You can set your own password for the encryption, as well as a maximum number of attempts before auto-format kicks in.
We’re not sure how many drives have been offered with both a lockable password-protected case and government-level hardware encryption before. Even if there have been a few before it, the Crypteks USB makes for a more attractive package from the sheer novelty of turning those spring radials to unlock your drive. It’s currently fully-funded on Kickstarter, so will likely go into production soon. They still appear to be accepting new backers, though, so you can reserve one if you’re interested.