Kingston's got a thing for über-secure flash drives, and its latest DataTraveler definitely keeps the trend alive. The waterproof BlackBox is the outfit's first Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-validated drive, which means that it was given the seal of approval from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. More specifically, you'll find "256-bit hardware-based AES encryption via a dedicated processor which automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the fly" and it'll also enter lock down mode if you happen to forget your password ten consecutive times. Of course, Kingston's pretty proud of this thing, so don't be shocked when you see the $165 (2GB), $242 (4GB) and $424 (8GB) price tags, alright? Alright.

[Via Electronista]

Yeah, Seagate's uber-secure 2.5-inch Momentus 5400 FDE.2 hard drive has been available on the open market for some time, but Dell is looking to become to first big player to offer it up within its laptops. Starting "this week," the Latitude D630 and D830 will be available with the crypto drive as an option, and it will come bundled with the Embassy Trust Suite from software company Wave Systems. Officially, Dell has yet to reveal how much it'll cost to upgrade to the drive, but judging by the Higher Education order portal, swapping in a 120GB encrypted HDD will run you $152.10 more than the vanilla 60GB unit the D630 comes with.

While the folks behind the AACS could probably use a few pointers about constructing a sufficient lock of their own, a group of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovat, Israel have crafted a molecule-sized "keypad lock" that "only activates when exposed to the correct password, a sequence of chemicals and light." Organic chemist Abraham Shanzer and his colleagues suggest that their invention could "lead to a new level of safeguards for secret information," but we tend think the infamous hackers of the world would inevitably crack the code. Nevertheless, the molecule -- dubbed FLIP -- houses a core linker that mimics a bacterial compound that binds to iron, and attached to it are two molecules that respectively can glow either blue or green. Using three "buttons," which just so happen to be an acidic molecule, an alkaline compound, and ultraviolet light, the lock can be "opened" if given the right sequence of chemicals and light, and there's a grand total of two noticeable results possible. Interestingly, the researchers have insinuated that their creation could be used to recognize "when certain sequences of chemicals (like harmful toxins) are released in the body," but we haven't heard a 10-4 from the US Army just yet.

[Via Yahoo, thanks, Antonio H.]

I-O Data is back on the RoHS-compliant NAS trail again, as its new LANDISK Tera offers up a secure, environmentally-friendly way to stash and share your data over a network. The new drive comes in both 1TB and 2TB flavors, supports RAID 5, boasts four hot-swappable bays, and now features AES 256-bit encryption. Additionally, this data cube comes dressed in all black, keeps your data under lock and key, and even touts a secondary security lock that can only be accessed with your chipped USB thumb drive. Aside from touting gigabit Ethernet, you'll also find support for Windows Active Directory and a data tracking feature to keep watch over who moves your precious files. Both units can be snapped up sometime next month, and while the 1TB variety will run you ¥99,800 ($846), the 2TB edition will demand ¥168,000 ($1,424).

[Via Akihabara News]

So you fancy red knit caps and a taste for the life aquatic, eh? Only thing is, you can't leave this cruel, cruel terra firma for fear of your sensitive data ending up in the hands of swashbuckling, or other pirate-types. Well put down that Glock and call-off the MPAA, 'cause Seamon Inc. will keep that PC booty safe even under the sloppiest of conditions. The $172 EasyGo optical fingerprint scanner is designed to cut through that thick, watery glaze for biometric access to your USB-equipped Windows laptop. Best of all, unlike iris-scanners, the EasyGo is immune to Hydrogen Psychosis, which is nice.

[Via Akihabara News]