Boeing to sell a 'self-destruct' top secret smartphone

Boeing  is set to debut a new secure phone designed for handling top secret communications for government agencies and defense contractors that will self-destruct if it's tampered with. There won't be any smoke or explosions, but it automatically deletes any data and renders itself inoperable.


Better known for its aeroplanes, Boeing already provides secure communications for US government officials - including the president. the firm said it needed to help organisations get "trusted access to data to accomplish their missions".

The device, named Black, joins a growing range of high-security smartphones entering the market.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a similarly-titled Blackphone was announced, aimed more at businesses and consumers worried about private data.

Boeing's Black is not intended for mainstream use - and does not yet have a price or release date.

The device contains two SIM cards to allow switching between government and commercial networks.

The smartphone runs a heavily-customised version of Google's Android operating system and Boeing has added its own branded security apps.

The Boeing Black phone is manufactured as a sealed device both with [extremely strong glue epoxy around the casing and with screws, the heads of which are covered with tamper-proof covering to identify attempted disassembly.

Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable."

But where Black goes beyond typical mobile security is in physical enhancements to the hardware itself.

Furthermore, the phone's hardware can be expanded to include biometric sensors, satellite receivers or solar panels.