DARPA is funding IBM to develop a new self-destructing technology integrated into devices holding sensitive information, so it can be prevented from falling into wrong hands.
Ever wondered how the self-destructive devices shown in Mission Impossible II worked, where Tom Cruise, playing the role of Ethan Hunt, receives a message and automatically bursts the device in 5 seconds. Well, that is about to become a reality, courtesy of IBM and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. Technology taking cues from sci-fi films is not new, and in the latest move, IBM is developing a self destructing technology that can be destroyed in a "controlled, triggerable manner."
Like most of us may guess, this technology will solely be used by the government to send critical information. The government will also have complete control over them. Especially in battlefields, where electronics such as radios, remote sensors and even phones are left scattered, it is almost impossible to track and recover all devices. If such devices fall into the hands of enemies, they can be used to study secretive plans laid out by the DoD.
The new program, Vanishing Programmable Resources or VAPR, will address these security measures and protect sensitive information. "The commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, electronics made for everyday purchases are durable and last nearly forever," Alicia Jackson, DARPA program manager, said in a press release, last week. "DARPA is looking for a way to make electronics that last precisely as long as they are needed. The breakdown of such devices could be triggered by a signal sent from command or any number of possible environmental conditions, such as temperature."
To make this happen, DARPA, U.S. military's research arm, has funded IBM with a $3.4 million contract. According to the military organization, IBM is working on a "strained glass substrate" that will shatter on triggering a fuse on the device or set-off by a radio signal.
"Large-area distributed networks of sensors that can decompose in the natural environment (ecoresorbable) may provide critical data for a specified duration, but no longer," DARPA's Jackson wrote in description of the program. "Alternatively, devices that resorb into the body (bioresorbable) may aid in continuous health monitoring and treatment in the field."
