About

The Problem

Your data is valuable. You want to protect it with a secure flash drive, but secure flash drives are a headache. Once you plug one in you might be sitting around for thirty seconds or more waiting for the management software to start on a CD-Rom emulator. Of course you can use BitLocker, but it's slow. And try using any of these drives on Linux, a TV or a Roku and you're out of luck. Some products have even tried advanced and expensive solutions like fingerprint readers, but what good is encryption that can be defeated with a piece of scotch tape or Play-doh [1]?

There has to be a better way!

Katana

Katana is a secure USB drive without the hassle. It's total protection with zero effort.

Our solution is remarkably simple - the drive encryption is managed on your mobile device. When your phone and the drive are paired, you can unlock the drive with our app, or allow it to unlock automatically. If it's separated from your phone the encryption keys aren't available so the drive stays locked.

But that's not all - your Katana's connection to your mobile phone also provides it with a remote kill switch. Wipe your phone and you'll end it's ability to unlock your Katana.

The Technology

We've developed firmware for Katana on a micro-controller breadboard using most of the same hardware and software that will be repackaged into the USB drive once we're able to get funding. We have a great team with significant experience in embedded electronics and electronic device manufacturing.

Breadboard Prototype

Production Package Rendering

iOS App Prototype

Technology

The production package rendering shown above is approximately 2.5" long, but this is subject to change. Depending on the level of funding we get we'll try to make the device as small as possible.

The encryption technology used is state of the art - Katana uses 256 AES hardware encryption which is currently impossible to break. A brute force attack would take over 3x10^56 years to complete [2]. Because we're using hardware encryption, Katana is significantly faster and more secure than the software encryption offered by programs like TrueCrypt or BitLocker.

Katana will have update-able firmware, which will eventually be released under a GPL open source license as we know that the most secure platforms open up their source code for critiquing. Furthermore, open source firmware would allow other developers to take advantage of some of the hardware in the device to enable new features (USB thumb drive + Bluetooth = internet... use your imagination!). Also note - many of the technologies used within Katana are currently patent pending. This is only to protect us from some of the larger flash drive and security companies using our work. All of our technology will be made public for non commercial use.

Usage

The first thing you'll do when you get your Katana is to plug the device into a PC and install the Katana management software from our website. This management software will allow you to:

Perform the initial pairing of the device with your phone (or another Bluetooth LE compatible device)

Save your encryption keys. In the case that your phone gets wiped out or can't pair for some reason, the software will allow you to recover your data

After this initial setup the software will no longer be necessary. Katana will appear to any device just like an unencrypted flash drive as long as it's paired to your phone and you've unlocked it with the app*.

*Note: because bluetooth pairing can be flaky sometimes, we might decide to have Katana remain unlocked without the need to re-aquire a key from a paired device as long as it doesn't lose power.

Your Company's Best Idea

A recent study indicated that the cost of data breaches was almost $200 per capita in 2011 [3]. 95% of losses are unintentional [4] and approximately half are due to the loss of a storage medium such as a USB drive [5]. How many security breaches [6], credit card thefts, and identity thefts [7] could have been saved with a Katana?

Katana is the first effective enterprise USB drive mobile device management (MDM) solution. With Katana, any existing MDM solution currently used that can remote wipe a phone will now protect a USB drive as well. Once the phone is wiped, the Katana linked to it becomes locked forever.

Every employee with a company protected smartphone should have a Katana to go with it.

We can also offer many advanced options for companies that need a higher level of control. Katana, for instance, has the potential to allow automatic unlocking when the paired mobile device is on your company's Wi-Fi network or in a specific geographic area. And a cloud based kill switch would still be available in case of security breaches. Note that these are currently listed as stretch goals for the project, so these features may not be implemented for the Kickstarter project but are definitely in our pipeline. The possibilities for group management of Katana devices are incredible - we'd love to discuss those possibilities with you.

Stretch Goals

If we can reach a funding level of $30k:

We should be able to cut down at least 1/2 inch off of the size of the drive. So it'll be 3 inches long max, but we'll try our best for 2.5 inches or less.

If we can reach a funding level of $40k:

We'll add some cool functionality to the iOS and Android apps such as the ability transfer files between the Katana drive and your device. Note that iOS apps are Sandboxed, so only certain file types like pictures will be able to exist in the common file system on iOS. The Android app can be more permissive.

We'll also add advanced authentication mechanisms such as geo-fencing or the availability of certain Wi-Fi networks. You could, for instance, set up your Katana to require no password while at work or at home but have a higher level of security everywhere else.

If we can reach a funding level of $60k:

Katana becomes your cloud enabled flash drive. You'll be able to use your Katana to upload files directly to Dropbox or Google Drive through your cellular connection just by adding those files to special cloud folders.

If we can reach a funding level of $100k:

We'll set up a cloud based service to manage your Katana remotely. You'll be able to wipe your Katana without having to wipe your phone.

About Us

We're hardware, software and manufacturing engineers with a passion for cool technology and an unrelenting paranoia about data loss. We're developing Katana as much for ourselves and our frustration with existing, clunky solutions as we are for you. Any proceeds from this Kickstarter will go towards developing the next generation of the device.

Like us on Facebook and get regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/KatanaUSB

Our Team

Lou - Manufacturing and design engineer with 10+ years of Advanced Manufacturing experience

Gaby - Design and quality engineer with 10+ years of experience

Guiller - Embedded engineer with a passion for quality electronics

1. Biometric Devices and Fingerprint Spoofing, http://www2.washjeff.edu/users/ahollandminkley/Biometric/

2. How secure is AES against brute force attacks?, May 2012, http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279619

3. 2011 Cost of Data Breach Study: United States, Ponemon Institute, Mar 2012, http://www.ponemon.org/local/upload/file/2011_US_CODB_FINAL_5.pdf

4. Sophos, Data Leakage Prevention, http://www.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/security-trends/data-leakage-prevention.aspx

5. Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, Dec 2006, http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise white_papers/ent-whitepaper_internet_security_threat_report_xi_03_2007.en-us.pdf

6. The biggest data breaches of 2014 (so far), Jul 2014, http://www.cso.com.au/article/549846/biggest_data_breaches_2014_far_/

7. Federal departments consider banning USB keys in wake of dozens of security breaches, Jan 2014, http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/01/federal-departments-consider-banning-usb-devices/