No one hacks Swiss Army drive – $100,000 prize goes unclaimed

At CES, Victorinox demonstrated their new Presentation Master featuring a finger print scanner in addition to data encryption for even more security. The company put up a $100,000 prize for any attendee that could hack the device and break the code. No one was able to claim the prize.

In fact, no one came close. If they had, the “secret self-destruct mode” would have destroyed the drive before the hacker was able to get in. Victorinox was mostly mum on the inner workings of this self-destruct mode but did show that the drive was destroyed. It was explained that the drive would render itself useless if a hacker got “close”.

“We were so confident in the design and development of these devices, we were willing to put $100,000 on it,” Victorinox Swiss Army President, Rick Taggart, stated. “The fact that no one was able to crack the code really demonstrates the unparalleled security of these new products.”

The Presentation Master is a pretty handy device, in true Swiss Army fashion. In addition to a knife and scissors, it features an 8GB or 16GB Flash memory USB drive, laser pointer, Bluetooth connectivity for controlling a presentation via two button for forward and back on the unit. Availability begins in April.

Each contestant was given 2 hours to attempt to beat the devices security. In all, 45 CES attendees attempted and failed.

Product page: [Victorinox]