Awesome Security

An ingenious way to protect valuables at the beach. Simply drill the Beach Vault into the sand and load your items inside. It can even be screwed through a hole in the included beach towel. Nobody will know it’s there, and you can rest easy while you go for a swim or sunbathe.

Apple’s iPhone X has started to arrive, and one of the big questions is how well FaceID works, and how easy it is to fool it. The Wall Street Journal recently put the phone to the test and shared their results. TL;DW? Don’t buy one if you have an identical twin.

Amazon gets into the smart home security market with the Cloud Cam. It streams 1080p video with night vision to a mobile app, and can be activated with Alexa via the Echo Show, Echo Spot, Fire TV and Fire Tablet.

An affordable home security solution. The Ring Protect Kit comes with a base station, a keypad, a contact sensor and a motion detector. Additional contact sensors cost $20 each, and extra motion detectors cost $30 each. It also works with other Ring security cameras.

The Moon camera has a base that allows for magnetic levitation and wireless charging. But it’s more than a floating eye. It can rotate itself towards a source of sound, and act as a home automation controller. It even has an IR blaster to control older appliances.

The Waylens Secure360 dash cam watches over your car even when you’re not driving. Not only does it capture 360º video, it has GPS and movement sensors that can send alerts and footage via a mobile app. It will come in Wi-Fi or 4G-capable variants.

Privatix’s free service lets you generate dummy email accounts for anonymity and security. It has apps for iOS and Android plus browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. The only downside is that you have to go to their site to check your dummy inbox.

Sparkfun founder Nate Seidle loves to create robots and is a genius with electronics. So for the fun of it, his wife gifted him a small safe that was locked, and provided no combination to open it. It was then up to Nathan to build a robot that could open it.

It’s quite pricey for what it does, but the Spyslide is a stylish and simple way to cover your monitor, laptop or tablet’s front camera. It’s so thin – thinner than a paperclip! – and small that it will fit on practically any computer you have.

The surprisingly robust OttoLock is mainly designed for cyclists, but it’s so light and easy to use you’ll be locking down other items with it as well. It weighs just 4oz (115g) but is harder to cut than cable locks, thanks to the layers of metal and Kevlar inside its plastic sleeve.

Teodoor can automatically open your door when your phone is near via Bluetooth as well as grant temporary access to other people. But unlike most of its competitors, Teodoor also lets you use your existing keys and turn your lock manually.

An internet router for parents looking for an easy way to manage their family’s online activity. Gryphon comes with an app that lets you see everyone’s browsing history, allow access to websites  or turn off online access temporarily and more.

The weatherproof version of Nest’s security camera. Nest Cam Outdoor plugs into a socket, and in return it gives you 130º 1080p video at all times. It also has a microphone and speaker so you can interact (or scare away) with the folks onscreen using Nest’s app.

CGP Grey made two videos firmly arguing against any means, legal or otherwise, to defeat or circumvent digital encryption. As we rely more and more on digital storage and services, the outcome of this fight will affect not just us but also future generations as well.

A magnetic pin that blocks the cap of #4, #5 and #6 hex bolts, the ones commonly used to secure bicycle parts. Each pin is angled and so small that only the Hexlox key can take it out, and each order of pins only works with the key that comes with it.

(PG-13: Language) Last Week Tonight breaks down Apple’s refusal to comply with the FBI’s request to unlock a terrorists’ iPhone, a potentially precedent-setting case that unfortunately pits consumers’ privacy against law enforcement.

“I am you right now, if I wanted to be.” Fusion writer Kevin Roose asked white hat hackers and computer security professionals to hack him. For common folk like us, the simplest of tricks – pretending to be someone or something else – is the one thing we should all look out for.

The Presence is an outdoor security camera and lamp. It can differentiate between people, vehicles, and animals, so you can filter its footage and app notifications. It has a 100º FOV, records in 1080p and also has a night vision mode. Drops Q3 2016.

BeON Home LED bulbs are standalone smart bulbs that help secure your home. Their removable modules can turn the bulbs on when your doorbell rings or your smoke detector comes on. They also have emergency batteries, and can learn your lighting schedule.

Burner is going beyond disposable phone numbers. The new free Burner Connections feature integrates web services with your phone. Save received photos to Dropbox, make an SMS bot with Evernote and more. Also, you can now renew a number for just $5 a month.

Not to be confused with the similarly named concept, the Pedal Lock is a bicycle pedal that has a built-in retractable stainless steel cable with a three-digit lock. It also has a motion-activated 120dB alarm. The final version will be water- and dirt-resistant.

A free messaging app that lets you send encrypted and obscured messages. The message will be visible only when you mouse or drag your finger over them. It also covers the window when the recipient tries to take a screenshot.

A Chrome browser extension that lets you turn emails sent via Gmail into unreadeable messages anytime you want. It’s like Gmail’s undo send feature except you can do it even weeks after you’ve sent the email.