241 DIY_USB Project
Key Idea: Turn any USB thumbdrive into a more secure device by combining features of your phone: fingerprint recognition to decode, alert you that the thumbdrive is still in the computer when it looks like you're leaving it behind by mistake.
Keywords: Mobile App development; Encryption; IoT/iBeacons
While some companies do make USB thumbdrives that require fingerprint authentication to access the data stored on it (for example Lexar, how about all the people that didn't have the forethought to buy such a device, but would like the convenience of being able to add such functionality to the existing USB thumbdrives they already have? Enter DIY USB Thumb-print-drive.
The idea to this project is to take advantage of the fact that most people have smartphones, and those devices support bioinformatic forms of identification, such as fingerprint and face recognition. Hook that up with some software that can detect when the phone and a USB flashdrive have been plugged into the same computer, and the software can effectively make the device operate as if it was one of those fancy fingerprint thumbdrives. Next, through the GPS/location serives on the phone, if the software can detect that the person who owns the phone appears to be moving away without unplugging the USB thumbdrive, it can sound an alert on the phone. Taking this project to the next level would be developing a solution that doesn't require the phone to be plugged in at all to a host PC to have this functionality work!