So here is a sweet little deal I stumbled upon at USBFever.  For $27 you can get a USB hard drive case with biometric fingerprint encryption scanner.

Given how cheap USB hard drives are these days, it’s easy to have them become your backup device of choice.  Well, if you’re like me, chances are you are backing up the QuickBooks or MAS90 accounting programs which need a bit more security.  It would be bad enough to lose your portable hard drive, so at least protect it with your fingerprint.

The USB hard drive case with biometric encryption supports the IDE / USB 2.5″ hard drive sizes along with plug & play insertion and removal.

The fingerprint biometrics supports all Windows platforms, but not Mac.  So if you’re about to drop $15-$20 for an external case, pay just a couple bucks more and get the USB encrypted version. (more…)

You personal security for on-line shopping has finally arrived.  No more malware keylogging your credit cards, pins and CID number.  With this personal credit card swipe machine you are very secure to buy all that gadget crap off eBay.

SmartSwipe is the first to introduce this brilliant product.  What the USB swipe credit card machine does, is read the mag strip, encrypts the data and sends it (more…)

There are some fundamental differences between USB copy protection and USB encryption to files on a flash drive.  I have seen many companies confuse and muddy the terminology between the two.  It’s time to clear things up and explain the difference.

In short; USB copy protection secures a file or set of files so they cannot be copied - thus copy protection.  USB encryption scrambles the source files so they cannot be read unless you decrypt them.  Take a moment and think about this…there is a BIG difference.

Encryption is the process of scrambling files and data so they cannot be accessed unless a password or key is supplied to reassemble the content and put everything back together.  This process is known as decryption.

The fundamental use for USB encryption is to protect files and data in the event the USB stick is lost or stolen.

Where encryption and USB copy protection differ is with “encryption” once you have the password you can (more…)

So what are some basic elements you need to overcome to use the USB spy camera packed up as a cigarette lighter?  First, you need to be someone who smokes…or looks like someone who smokes.  It wouldn’t be easy to use this product on your friends, if they know you don’t smoke.  Second, you need to be willing to let the world know you’re a smoker.  This probably isn’t a big deal for most people in the world, but being from California, it’s something no one approves of.

So if you’ve gotten past the stigma, then the cigarette lighter spy camera is a viable option to bust your best friend, wife or boss with suspicious activity.

With 2GB of built in memory, you’ll never have a shortage of memory for audio or video surveillance.  In addition, the video quality is fairly good at 640 x 480 pixels and a respectable 16 frames per second [respectable given the size of the device at just 5.3 x 3.7 x 1.2 cm].  Once your mission is complete, and you feel something good was caught on tape, simply download the content via USB and make your case. (more…)

Don’t get too excited, the flash drive doesn’t blow up and take everyone with it, nor does it spit out harmful bio chemicals for mass destruction.  Rather, the Fujitsu USB flash drive will self destruct using a much less flamboyant method…it will erase itself.

The drive is a prototype design whereby the internal workings include a processor and battery and after a certain amount of time, the data on the stick will erase itself.  Or self destruct.

But just incase this method is a bit too hard-core, Fujitsu has an alternate method for data protection.  The second method includes an auto erase feature if the USB flash drive is used to copy files to an unauthorized workstation or server.  Using the Fujitsu re-direct software as the backbone, it can prevent data from  being uploaded to file-sharing networks, sent as e-mail attachments, or printed, according to Fujitsu.

Since this is just a prototype you’ll need to wait a bit longer, but for those who are impatient, GetUSB.info knows of one flash drive which already offers USB Copy Protection.  The drive will also Copy Protect PDF files, flash, MPG and a host more multimedia files.

So lets clarify exactly what I’m talking about here…a TV spy remote is a device that allows you to control someone else’s TV without being around, thus wreak havoc in their life.  After all, what could be more upsetting then turning off the TV at your neighbors house during American Idol or watching Jack Bower kick a$$ in 24?  I don’t think there is a greater pleasure.

Since you can’t buy a TV spy remote at buy.com or Amazon, or anywhere else, check out this TV Spy Remote tutorial I found at Instructables.

The tools and materials you need could be found anywhere, as this hack was done at a college dorm room and you know those kids have not $$ or resources.

Required materials include: (more…)

Corsair put an interesting twist on backup technology.  They have devised a one touch USB flash drive backup adapter.  The adapter has a female USB port sitting on the top of the device.  This is where you can plug in any flash drive.  The adapter then connects to your PC via miniUSB cable.

At this point, the USB backup adapter is ready to suck information off your PC and stuff it onto your flash drive, with the push of a single button.

Of course you need to set some configuration options in the NovaBackUp software, but once set - you’re ready at any moment.

“Our research indicated that over 80% of users have a My Documents folder of less than 64GB, and more than 85% need to regularly transport less than 64GB of data between different PCs. This shows that USB flash drives are an efficient method of backing up your data, and with high-capacity USB flash drives, there is still plenty of room for your favorite music, photos and even movies,” said Jim Carlton, Corsair’s vice president of marketing.

This is also an excellent marketing tool to encourage users to break away from their 2 year old 1GB drives and saddle up for a larger 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive.

I for one, am a lazy backer-upper and a device like this might encourage me to be more vigilante about data backups.

The Corsair USB backup adapter has an MSRP of $35.

Corsair product page.