Google's Project Vault Makes Devices and Computing Secure Using MicroSD

To make every device's data away from prying eyes, Google announced its Project Vault at the Google I/O conference event last week.

Designed by the Google's Advanced Technology And Project group (ATAP), the Project Vault protects a user's most sensitive data under the guise of a microSD card. The project's aim is to provide security and privacy in the communications and storage of a device.

In addition to the usual microSD, the said project includes a microprocessor, an NFC (Near field communication) chip, antenna, and an operating system. As a whole, the device runs on a custom ARM processor and has 4GB of secure storage space. It can also run from any device with a microSD storage support and works with any operating system including Android, Windows, OS X and Linux.

"Project Vault is a small microSD form factor device, it's a separate ultra-secure mini computer," the ATAP group's Peter Zatko elaborated during the I/O conference last week. The group also introduced the "Trust Score" feature of the Project Vault. This feature recognizes the user's activity and authenticates a user based on security measures like typing patterns.

For instance, if the user launches Chrome and YouTube a lot throughout a day, but then another user takes advantage of their phone with Vault on it and their usage pattern doesn't match the original user's, the Vault will recognize that the device has been accessed by other user, Mashable elaborates. ATAP exclaimed that the said feature is up to 10 times more secure than simply typing in a password.

Google will initially develop the said project for enterprise companies. Eventually, the technology will be made available for the consumers as well.

"Think of it like this; my home has windows and doors which is necessary for people and things to come and go," added Regina Dugan, head of the ATAP group (via NFC World). "But those windows and doors make it harder for me to protect everything in the house.

"So I use a vault, to store the most sensitive documents. It cannot store all of the contents of my house, but it can store my most precious possessions," Dugan explained.