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Real-world testing begins for Boeing's self-destructing smartphone

Image: CNN

Boeing is making a smartphone: the Boeing Black. The aerospace giant began designing the device back in 2014 with one very interesting feature: self-destruct mode. If the Black is ever compromised it would automatically begin destroying its internals to protect highly-sensitive data. Now, Boeing is ready for field testing and the company has one of the best people in mind to put the phone through its paces.

Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency (NSA), is a part of the first wave of testers for Boeing's new Black smartphone. Rogers handles top secret documents on a daily basis, making him the perfect candidate to put the Black through its paces. Boeing's allowance of real-world testing could mean that the Black is nearing its production phase, assuming testers don't reveal any chinks in the armor.

The Boeing Black protects data much better than a software kill switch by acting more as a virtual machine when connected to the Top Secret JWICS (Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System) network, and by purging all data and software from the device to make it inoperable when tampering is detected. If the Black could fry itself like a Galaxy Note7, it would be the closest thing to a Mission Impossible communications device.

Although the handset is intended as a government-use device it also supports dual-SIM technology, so users can switch between government and mainstream cellular networks without swapping phones, all while protecting data on traditional cellular networks.

Source: The Huffington Post

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