Patent ID: 7099110

Claim:
A system for rendering data stored on a data storage device unrecoverable upon the occurrence of a certain event, the system comprising: a reactant reservoir including at least one chamber for holding a reactant chemical, the reactant reservoir in fluid communication with at least an area proximate at least one surface of said data storage device; an activation device, coupled to said reactant reservoir and responsive to at least one event, for causing at least a portion of the reactant chemical to flow from the reactant reservoir into the at least an area proximate at least one surface of said data storage device, thereby destroying the stored data, the at least one event being selected from the group consisting of removal of the data storage device from a host computer, removal of data storage device from a primary power circuit, detected movement of the data storage device from its resting point, a certain number of detected unsuccessful login attempts, an infrared signal sent from an infrared controller, a remote transmitter signal sent from a remote transmitter, a cellular signal sent from a cellular telephone, a wireless transmitter signal sent by a wireless transmitter, a keyboard signal sent from a wired controller, detected physical tampering with the data storage device, detected loss of power from the primary power circuit and backup batteries, a command sent through an Internet, a key command sequence entered from the keyboard, a voice command through a voice recognition system, a biometric signal, an incorrect biometric signal, and detected temperature outside a range of temperatures; and an event interface, coupled to said activation device, for establishing selected predetermined criteria for said at least one event, wherein the selected predetermined criteria include a countdown time before the reactant chemical flows from the reactant reservoir.