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Biometric Thumb Drives?
osopolar asks: "I work as a security analyst for a 10 billion dollar bank and we are currently looking for biometric thumb drives as emergency backup/recovery solutions for our local branches. We do not have IT people at every branch so the backup must be done by a branch manager, so the device needs to be easy to use. How would you backup information securely? What thumb drives do you recommend?"
Think about it.
I think it's obvious from his level of intelligence, and the fact that it's slashdot, means he works for Paypal.
Phsaw! Ignore him. I'll get you a good deal on the thumb drives. They're 1GB ones, but they're bulk discounted because the label on the front (and Windows) misreports the size as 16MB. (Since G and 6 are so similar, the isolinear pro-recgonization dll don't properly link). To get the biometric security working, you just need to download additional drivers. I can't remember the website off hand, but it ends with .fl It adds on an additional level of security by co-hashing the thumbprint recogniztion with a non-alpha numerator string of indetermened length. For the best security, you should use a long number, and one that isn't known outside of the upper echelons of your company. Your expense account credit card number should do.
Oh, and if your IT guys start spouting off nonsense about "remote access of datadrive contents", you can tell them what's really going on. The thumb drives (courtesy of the additional drivers) use sporatic cross-referenced data layer technology. Whenever the drive is connected to an internet-capable machine, it automatically hides parts of its data throughout the Internet for safe keeping. After all, if the thumbdrive gets lost, you don't want all the data to be gone, too? It's an additional security feature. (And your IT guys SHOULD know that, shouldn't they? I mean, they are supposed to be knowledged professionals. Unless they lied on their resumes. Better check that out...)
UTF-8: There and Back Again
Well, see, this is what happens when you don't take an idea to the extreme. What your bank manager really needs is a drive actually implanted in his thumb, so he can't lose it, and keyed to him biometrically, so it wouldn't be quite so easy to nip off his thumb and steal the data.
Although, if you had a USB port in your thumb, it would make it hard to type, so better make it a toe drive. Make sure your toe drive is bootable! I'm sure the creative minds here at slashdot can think of other more pedestrian uses for a toe drive.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
"I work as a security analyst for a 10 billion dollar bank .... How would you backup information securely?"
*heads to google*
*pulls up information on finance sector*
*attempts to cross-reference all companie market caps between $8B and $12B with list of bank accounts in file cabinet*
*cancels all matches*
*orders credit watch service for credit report*
*shakes head, weeps gently*
*suddenly realizes, not all banks are publically traded*
*mutters obscenities*
*cancels all accounts just to be safe, renounces materialism, heads to mountain cabin in woods*
*later, is eaten by wolves*