We go through devices like we go through shoes these days. We replace our laptops every few years, our smartphones nearly every year, and do the same with a whole load of other gadgets that we use regularly. When you replace an older device, chances are, you will either sell it, donate it, or gift it to someone who can use it, all of which are a lot better than just throwing it away to rot in a landfill somewhere. Problem is, you probably have sensitive data on there and you’ll want it to be completely nuked before your device comes into other hands. The Redkey USB V4 Ultimate offers a way to eliminate any trace of that data.
Billed as a “sophisticated permanent information disposal device,” it’s a small dongle that can wipe not just PCs and laptops, but smartphones and tablets, too. Whether you want to get rid of the smallest traces of stored credit card information, confidential work documents, or logs of your questionable online activities, this thing lets you do that with no need for technical knowledge or specialized software.
The Redkey USB V4 Ultimate comes with two connectors, a standard USB on one end and USB Type-C on the other, so you can use it with both older and newer computers. To use, simply plug it in with the computer powered off, turn it on, and go to the PC’s boot menu. From there, you simply instruct it to boot from the Redkey USB and follow all the onscreen instructions to remove any traces of data from your hard drive, SSD, or whatever storage device you have onboard.
It comes with over 20 different data wipe standards, so you can choose which one you trust best. Heck, you can wipe multiple times using a different standard each time out to make sure the darn thing is scrubbed as cleanly as possible. According to the outfit, it works fast, too, allowing you to run one of the wipe standards on a modern computer within minutes. Even better, it works with both Windows and Macs, so it can do a thorough cleanup on the most common computers out there.
The Redkey USB V4 Ultimate can perform the wipe on any kind of storage device hooked up to the PC, including memory cards and external drives. Need to wipe a phone or tablet? It can do that, too. Just hook up your device to the PC via a data cable and use the Wipe Wizard to guide you every step of the way. And yes, it will retain the operating systems on the devices you clean up, so the devices will remain usable even after clearing up all your data from it.
Want to double check whether a wipe is successful? You can use the built-in HEX Viewer to let you visually inspect the contents of every cell on the storage. Other features include remote wipe mode for cleaning up machines over LAN, built-in screensaver (so you don’t have to stare at a progress bar the whole time), and even built-in audio (so you can enjoy music while a wipe is on the way).
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Redkey USB V4 Ultimate. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $100.
