Data security has always been a top priority for individual, commercial, and military use. However, hackers and other threats have always caught up to digital security in one way or another. The latest method to secure information is through microchip self-destruction, Market Business reported.
The new chip from Xerox Parc is the result of funding from DARPA. The chip is actually made out of materials already found on smartphone screens. The chips are Corning Gorilla Glass but tweaked for the purpose of self-destruction. The glass, which is "ion-exchange tempered ," is treated to become stressed and, with the right amount of pressure, will make it shatter into a thousand pieces.
The demonstration last Thursday brought the glass to breaking point via heat. When a circuit was switched on, a resistor produced heat and shattered the glass. The technology is such that the glass pieces kept breaking apart seconds after it shattered.
There are many ways to initiate the self-destruct sequence of the microchip. The demonstration only showed how heat via a light-powered photo-diode broke the glass chip but radio signals and mechanical switches can initiate the sequence too, Slashgear reported.
"We take the glass and we ion-exchange temper it to build in stress," said Gregory Whiting, senior scientist at Parc. "What you get is glass that, because it's heavily stressed, breaks it fragments into tiny little pieces." This is amazing storage technology for sensitive data like encryption keys. The destruction of the key in a matter of seconds presents a new option to folks who require a very high level of security with their data.
This self-destructing chip by Xerox Parc is not DARPA's first foray into this of tech. in February 2014, for example, IBM received a $3.45 million contract to develop a chip which destroys itself on command, BGE reported.
