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[TV] These SSDs Will Self Destruct If You Text Them

5K views 49 replies 41 participants last post by  TranquilTempest 
#1 ·
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http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/1/6877217/autothysis-solid-state-hard-drives-will-self-destruct-if-you-text-them
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British company Secure Drives' Autothysis128s and Autothysis128t are solid state drives with 128GB of storage space. They would be fairly unremarkable SSDs, were it not for the ability to delete their data by sending an SMS message to a special self-destruct number like some kind of Mission Impossible spymaster. And that data's not just wiped. The SSDs are like piggy banks -once you've made the decision to delete the data, the drive is physically destroyed, with the NAND flash chips and security controller broken inside the drive's enclosure.

Text message is just one way the data held on Secure Drives' devices could be erased. Removing the drive from a PC, failing too many PIN prompts, a low battery level, or activating a "tap-to-destroy" function on a touchscreen "token" accessory will also see the data irrecoverably deleted. The drives even have their own built-in GSM access. If the signal goes quiet for too long, the drive is destroyed.
I know tons of people who need gear like this, myself included.

Remote detonation FTW.
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#7 ·
good for those dark net purchases in a self contained Linux install
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"What officer? I don't even know what a Tor is and I definitely don't have it on my computer."
 
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#9 ·
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Originally Posted by mott555 View Post

Knowing my luck, some scammer/spammer would text mine and destroy it.
there would likely be a lengthy process to destroy it rather than just sending a "Hello World" text to a random 9 digit number.

It may just be a secret key that you create ahead of time before the SSD is deployed. Then as far as security is concerned, the ssd would wait and listen for a text and verify the security "key"

Actually I'd be surprised if you're really just texting the company, then if the text is verified the company sends it's own trigger signal to the SSD.

We've been looking at stuff like this with Absolute Software/Security's Computrace product. They have some sort of mechanism shipped on various motherboards. You probably wouldn't even know your laptop had it unless you checked their site.

Even the surface pro 3 is compatible - something we learned after the fact.
 
#15 ·
I wouldn't be surprised if these turned out to be the least secure SSDs on the market. I mean:
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The drives even have their own built-in GSM access.
This is even worse than having Wi-Fi built-in. The information on them will be in the hands of government agencies and / or independent hackers around the world long before you send any SMS to destroy it.
 
#17 ·
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Originally Posted by tpi2007 View Post

I wouldn't be surprised if these turned out to be the least secure SSDs on the market. I mean:
This is even worse than having Wi-Fi built-in. The information on them will be in the hands of government agencies and / or independent hackers around the world long before you send any SMS to destroy it.
If they even bother to transfer the data over GSM network. Seriously, GPRS is slow as hell.
 
#18 ·
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Originally Posted by Pawelr98 View Post

If they even bother to transfer the data over GSM network. Seriously, GPRS is slow as hell.
You underestimate motivations and selectivity. Retrieve list of files and keywords -> little bandwidth used. Analyse said list, retrieve only what's necessary. I bet they even have automated tools to do this.
 
#19 ·
Glad to see something like this on the consumer market! I would really like one.
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#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpi2007 View Post

You underestimate motivations and selectivity. Retrieve list of files and keywords -> little bandwidth used. Analyse said list, retrieve only what's necessary. I bet they even have automated tools to do this.
I highly suspect that the self destruct mechanism would be completely independent and separate from the actual working parts of the SSD except for it's power supply. There's really no reason for them to be connected in any way that could allow for the transmission of data over it's wireless connection when your main objective is not to just "delete" data, but render the drive completely unusable.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Millillion View Post

I highly suspect that the self destruct mechanism would be completely independent and separate from the actual working parts of the SSD except for it's power supply. There's really no reason for them to be connected in any way that could allow for the transmission of data over it's wireless connection when your main objective is not to just "delete" data, but render the drive completely unusable.
That will depend on the implementation. With so many options to activate it - SMS, token, removing the drive from a PC, failing too many PIN prompts, low battery level, it wouldn't surprise me if they had put aside a part of the Flash to store this firmware and settings, also allowing for future bug patches and feature updates - that would open a vulnerability vector to access the rest of the Flash.

Unless all of this functionality is hard coded in a ROM chip with only the variables to what options the user set to be on or off being stored in RAM or Flash.
 
#22 ·
I can almost promise that these are not consumer drives. These are most likely military drives. Do you know how much money it would cost to have one of these? These are in the upper thousands and that's lowballing it.

edit: after reading the article, consumers can buy them but I was right about them being very expensive and I can easily deduce their market is for companies and the military. That's where their money is going to come from. No company is going to spend this much money on R&D and then expect someone like me to buy one.
 
#23 ·
Bet you when you text the number you'll have an inconspicuous person dressed in black and a balaclava burst in through your windows with a silenced Walther PPK and shoot the living ducks out of the hard drive then drive the final bullet through you. Then sneaker off while looking over his shoulder uttering "Good night" with a smooth russian accent.
 
#24 ·
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Originally Posted by frickfrock999 View Post

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Originally Posted by kakik09 View Post

Neat piece of tat for an expensive prank
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How is the drive broken though? over volting?
Each drive comes pre-loaded with 2 pounds of C4.
Almost cracked in the office...now that I'm thinking about it...good way to avoid working for a day or two. You don't call in sick, you just text your workstation.

...maybe with 2 grams of C4 tho, to avoid casualties.
 
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