Crypteks USB Key, Da Vinci Code Meets IronKey Soon to be Reality
We'll be the first to admit, if we hadn't loved "The Da Vinci Code", this innovative flash drive, Crypteks USB Key, would hearken back to cheap bicycle locks. Hopefully, when they ship later this year, they will function more like the former. The concept was launched on KickStarter recently and has already received enough funding to make it into production. KickStarter helps do fundraising for projects (e.g. USB cooler tailor-made for MacBook Pro) that might not see commercial production otherwise. The Crypteks USB Key functions like a puzzle box lock around a flash drive. Very similar to a suitcase lock, you slide the rings around to spell out the combination. Putting in the correct combination releases the specially designed flash drive within. Once unlocked the combination can be changed at will to any 5 character permutation of 27 possible symbols. Once open, the USB flash drive has hardware AES encryption on board that protects the actual data on the drive from prying eyes. The physical security may not be much more than a novelty (those bike locks were easy to pick) the added digital security makes it much more. They intend to launch in both 8GB and 16GB capacities with admirable read/write speeds to boot. There is currently no data destruction function but we hope that's on the short list for version 2.0. This first batch will be a bit pricey at a minimum of $130. Consider the premium a small donation that will hopefully will inspire other interesting products in the future.
