DARPA Seeks To Secure Data With Electronics That Dissolve On Command

An anonymous reader writes "Electronic devices are built to last, which make them very reliable. However, if during a hostile situation such a device has to be left behind or gets dropped, it will continue to function and could end up giving the enemy an advantage. With that in mind, DARPA has set about creating electronics that work for as long as necessary, but can be destroyed at a moment's notice. The project is called Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR). Its main aim is to develop so-called transient electronics that are capable of dissolving completely, or at the very least to the point where they no longer function. Destroying a VAPR device should be as easy as sending a signal to it or placing the device within certain conditions e.g. extreme heat or cold, that triggers the rapid destruction process."

Off to a questionable start

[tverbeek]

"Electronic devices are built to last...." Sorry, but you just lost me, right there.

Re:Sign in to keep vs destroy on command

[tverbeek]

That would hand The Enemy an easy method of sabotage. All he would need to do to cripple your gear is to try to use it (like some idiot locking out your account by trying to guess the password... but in this case it's hardware and it's irreversible). Or if it's based on time elapsed since the authorized user was using it, just keep you away from it for that long. If you want the authorized user to be the one to determine when the gear should (and should not) be sacrificed, it has to be "destroy on command".

Re:Current U.S. Landmines do this

[Anonymous Coward]

"Antipersonnel landmines used by the United States, with the exception of those now warehoused for use in Korea, do not have long-term residual effects because they are self-destructing and/or self-deactivating"

Yeah just like the summary said:

However, if during a hostile situation such a device has to be left behind or gets dropped, it will continue to function and could end up giving the enemy an advantage.

I guess you gotta think about these things when you constantly create new enemies because you don't have any other effective way to keep your economy afloat. You destroyed your own manufacturing base with "free trade" (it's "free" trade when US regular folk don't have good jobs, but the corporations love the cheap overseas labor!). You don't have anything except Imaginary Property to export and in the Information Age that's not so good for you. Hey war is big BIG business. You need some pointless war every decade or so. It's the only reason the US economy hasn't already tanked. WWII got you out of the Great Depression and your leaders never forgot the lesson. Even if the rest of you did.

So yeah, for freedom, to liberate them, for the flag, for democracy, whatever justification it takes. Long as it's some little nation that isn't REALLY a threat to you. Doesn't matter if they have oil. That's not what you're there for. You're there for the defense contracts and multibillion-dollar budgets. It's so shameful the way honorable people who love their country join the military thinking they're doing a good thing and they end up being used and thrown away for such useless wars.