Keeping personal and sensitive data safe and secure is of crucial importance. Unfortunately, many – if not most – people don’t realize this until it’s too late. But when it comes to data protection, the ones who need to worry about it the most are military personnel – not only could the military lose enormous amounts of money if some types of information were to get into the wrong hands, but human lives could be in danger too.
Traditional methods for data protection involve installing software, which although useful, is not an ideal approach. For one, it requires frequent updates, and two, it requires large amounts of computational power. Not to mention it’s far from being 100% secure.
But there is a new, alternative security method which is not based on software but on hardware. Called physically unclonable function (PUF) devices, this type of technology holds great promise. When this hardware is fabricated, random physical variations occur which are impossible to clone or copy, making it super-secure and perfect for military uses. The problem is, current PUF devices are sensitive to harsh environments, and since many military complexes are situated at places with severe weather conditions, PUFs don’t appear to be a great choice after all.
The good news is that scientists have now created new PUF hardware that is based on nano-electromechanical switches that can withstand exposure to high temperatures, microwaves, and high-dose radiation. Furthermore, in the case of a data breach, the technology can self-destruct.
Source:
American Chemical Society via ScienceDaily (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171213095359.htm)
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