Durability Testing and Improved Internals USB:

As a last ditch attempt to rescue the data locked within the Padlock 2 secure flash drive's rubber cell walls, I decided it was time to operate with my trusty pocket knife. I discovered that underneath the rubber shell is a second enclosure made of hard plastic, and while that much wasn't a surprise, the lack of extra watertight protection around the drive's LED lights was, as were the open vents around the keypad buttons. Well then, that explains the moisture I'd encountered, but what about the buttons?!




Still anxious to get to the drive's core and rescue my data, I cracked open the second casing and fiddled again with the buttons to quickly discover the cause of the problem. For some odd reason the key button would only activate if pressed anywhere but the direct center, not coincidentally where the plastic overbutton was designed to make contact. Hurray! I could now unlock the drive and access my data, all of it intact! Since I've already compromised the drive's casing, this would conclude my durability testing. Lesson learned: the Padlock 2 secure flash drive is probably better suited for sudden impact over water resistance, so next time I'll perform that bit of testing first!

On one last note, to my great satisfaction I saw that all of the Padlock 2's components were covered with an epoxy resin of some kind, discouraging me from tinkering with the individual components like what happened when the Padlock 1's naked two-PCB design was hacked. Hurray for hardened security!