Phantomdrive

It starts as a boring flash drive.

Phantomdrive masquerades itself as a normal 8GB drive. The remainder of the disk stays hidden until the unlock sequence is activated.

Phantomdrive Unlock Sequence

  1. 01

    Mounts normally

    Phantomdrive first appears as a normal USB drive.

  2. 02

    Waits for the trigger

    To trigger: create a text file containing password:addyourpasswordhere.

  3. 03

    Snoops the password

    The device reads your password and derives an AES256 key. The password is never written to memory.

  4. 04

    Reveals the rest

    The remaining disk is remounted, and data is encrypted and decrypted in place.

Product Details

  • Container size:8GB is reserved for for your "unencrypted" section. While the remainder of the SD card is left for encrypted data.
  • Open hardware:Hardware, firmware, software, and mechanical files are open source.
  • Storage:An SD card is used for storage, so you determine the capacity. SD card not included.
  • Nondescript enclosure:The enclosure has no special markings.
  • Speed:We've recorded 20 MB/s reads and 9 MB/s writes. We're working to improve it.
  • Easy updates:The CH569W firmware can be updated by pressing the reset button while inserting it into your PC. No special programmer required.
  • KDF:Keys are derived using PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256.
  • UART:UART is available through TP1, TP2, and TP3.
  • Designed in KiCad:You do not need to pay thousands to edit the design files.
Phantomdrive prototype hero image
Prototype hero
Phantomdrive PCB front
PCB front
Phantomdrive PCB back
PCB back
Closed Phantomdrive prototype
Closed prototype

FAQ

Questions and Answers

Where can I buy Phantomdrive?

Phantomdrive is available from the Rootkit Labs shop, where you can find current pricing and shipping details.

Is Phantomdrive production-ready?

Over 200 units are being used in the field.

Isn't this just VeraCrypt?

No. An encrypted volume exposes random-looking encrypted data. Phantomdrive presents normal unenencrypted data, then reveals the protected section after being unlocked. When the device is locked, there's no way for the OS to know there's more space or data on the drive.

Isn't entering a password into a text file insecure?

The firmware snoops for the string "password:xyz" and inhibits the write of "xyz". Otherwise, yes this would be very insecure.

Why use an SD card?

Because of AI driving up the cost of eMMC. In the future I will likely make an eMMC version.

What KDF do you use?

PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 with a per-device salt. The firmware supports 100,000 or 600,000 iterations, with 100,000 as the default.

Can't you just crack open the device and take out the SD card?

Yes, but all the data is encrypted.

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