It seems like the benefits are having the device lock/wipe itself after a set amount of attempts in case of a brute force attack and not having to run software to decrypt the drive on the device you plug it into.

I included a picture of the IronKey Keypad 200 but that’s just because it’s the first result that came up when I was looking for an example. There seem to be a few other manufacturers and models out there and they probably have different features.

I am curious what do you think of them? Do you think they are useful? Do you find it more a novelty?

It was an ExplainingComputers video titled Very Useful Small Computing Things that made me think of them.

  • @jetAEnglish
    5•5 months ago

    They are interesting. But they are a huge red flag and scream examine me if it’s in your luggage and your crossing a boarder.

    I’m somewhat dubious about a hardware system not having long term undiscovered flaws. Be sure to use software based data protection on top of the hardware solution.

    • Possibly linuxEnglish
      3•5 months ago

      Depending one where you are this may may be seen as normal in many airports as this isn’t uncommon in a business setting

    • CorrodedOPEnglish
      2•5 months ago

      But they are a huge red flag and scream examine me if it’s in your luggage and your crossing a boarder.

      Good point. I guess you’d need to look into key disclosure laws at that point if they were in your threat model