History Main / SelfDestructingSecurity

* An anti-handling device kills some MI5 safecrackers in the ''Literature/BernardSamsonSeries''. According to the mission post-mortem, the confines of the safe turned the document destruction device into an accidental bomb. However there's also the possibility that it was a BoobyTrap meant to kill Bernard Samson.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/TheItalianJob2003'' the villain's big safe has a piece of glass inside the door; if the glass breaks--and drilling into the safe will almost definitely achieve this--the lock's tumblers will be unable to rotate properly and the safe will be permanently sealed. (TruthInTelevision for many higher-end safes--it's called a glass relocker.) Doesn't actually destroy the gold inside, but the safe is ''huge''; if you have the tools to rip the door off, doing so would have been your first option, not second. [[spoiler:Creator/CharlizeTheron's character ends up opening it the old-fashioned way, by listening and feeling out the combination, a skill she inherited from her late father]].

* In ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', the cryptex protects its contents with a combination lock. Attempting to force the cryptex open will break the vial of vinegar inside, which would dissolve the papyrus along with its message before it could be read. As a result, only the right password will grant access to the message. This is a case of ArtisticLicenseChemistry; vinegar isn't a powerful enough solvent to dissolve papyrus, which is fairly sturdy stuff. It won't even smudge most of the inks the Egyptians used.
* The Creator/MatthewReilly short story ''Altitude Rush'' ([[http://www.matthewreilly.com/resources Available in pdf on his website]]) has documents protected by a self destructing case that will release hydrofluoric acid on the papers unless properly accessed. The case also has an altitude sensor that will trigger the self-destruct if it goes above 1000 feet or below 10 feet, necessitating the thieves to execute a frantic escape across the NY skyline.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' the stolen ShroudOfTurin is kept like this, with a remote to deactivate the security. In this case it's a precaution against the seller being subjected to YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness after handing it over.
* ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'' series novel ''The Dark is Rising''. The Book of Gramarye is kept in a grandfather clock with a magical security mechanism. If the Book touches the clock's pendulum while it's being removed or returned, it is totally destroyed. The same thing will occur if an Old One tries to remove the book and they're not touching a specific human being[[note]]who, unlike the Old Ones, could be killed by the Light if necessary to stop the book from being removed[[/note]] at the time.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast''. Computer software expert Deety mentions that if anyone except herself attempts to access her college computer account it would show them her "clean" financial records while secretly deleting the "dirty" copy.
* In Jeffery Kooistra's ''Dykstra's War'', the eponymous Dykstra receives a thumbprint-coded package that, if accessed by the wrong person, will explode with sufficient force to take out ''the whole building''. Clearly one wants to be ''very careful'' about checking the address labels.
* In Creator/HarryHarrison's ''The Ethical Engineer'' (second book of the {{Literature/Deathworld}} series), Jason crash-lands on a LostColony where remains of technology are venerated with a religious-like fervor by various clans/cities. One of them builds primitive cars and have booby-trapped the engines should someone attempt to open and reverse-engineer them (or repair them - they make the cars so that they break after a few months). Jason is trying to break the monopoly and allow progress, currently working for the group making petroleum (to run said cars). He tries to make an impression by making repairs to one car. One of the traps (poison gas canisters) is triggered by attempting to remove the screws holding the cover. Jason figures out that the screws are deliberately threaded the wrong way (i.e. you have to turn clockwise instead of counterclockwise). Attempting to turn counterclockwise tightens them and smashes the canisters. He then defeats another trigger mechanism by using melting ice to slowly lower the engine from the housing. The reason he can't build a crude vehicle without reverse-engineering it is because no one in his time remembers how an internal combustion engine is supposed to work.

* In ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', John Galt protects the shed containing his {{utopia}}'s power source (a PerpetualMotionMachine) and his secret laboratory in his obscure flat in New York City in such a way that anyone trying to break into the rooms or force the locks will cause everything in the rooms to disintegrate into dust by the time they get the door open. How? Who is John Galt?
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/PastDoctorAdventures novel “Palace of the Red Sun” features the royal family of the planet Esselven hampering the conquest of Protector Glavis Judd by sealing the last copies of important documents necessary to run the planet in a Radzell and Styne Maxima Vault, a truly impregnable safe. As described by one of Judd’s engineers, the vault has its own internal power source, collapsium-lined walls reinforced by internal fields and an external force shield, with any explosive force capable of breaching the walls triggering a self-destruct mechanism in the vault itself. The only way to open the vault is with a DNA body scan that will respond to the person whose DNA has been programmed into the system, although certain versions will respond to people in the same family. This forces Judd to put his campaign on hold to find the Esselven royals so that he can retrieve the vital official documents held within the vault, all of which are unique items required to run the planet properly such as trade agreements or computer codes for key systems.
* An anti-handling device kills some MI5 safecrackers in the ''Literature/BernardSamsonSeries''. According to the mission post-mortem, the confines of the safe turned the document destruction device into an accidental bomb. However there's also the possibility that it was a BoobyTrap meant to kill Bernard Samson.
* Mentioned in the ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series. After pulling off a heist for a painting, Artemis checks for pyrophoric/explosive chemicals in the storage tube, in case the person he's stealing from is particularly spiteful.
* In the finale to the third book to the ''Saga of the Grey Death Legion'' trilogy (part of the Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse), the planet Helm was the site of a secret Star League weapons depot 300 years ago. The GDL manages to open the vault using a ceremonial data slate given to the planetary governor, while the pursuing House Marik company are forced to breach it using explosives, causing the facility to enter a self-destruct mode. A buried fusion reactor heats up underwater lakes, causing them to boil off and explode through the surface, returning the mysteriously vanished sea to Helm's surface and destroying the facility in the process. Luckily, the GDL managed to save a copy of the Star League library in the facility and its cache of LostTechnology specifications.

* ''Literature/TheAIGang'': Black Glove's transmitters are all set up with this feature to prevent them from being investigated and tracking them back to the source. The first time, he manually smashes the receiver, causing it to send a signal that causes the transmitter to disintegrate. The second time, a larger transmitter does the same on discovery, disintegrating and leaving burn marks on Rachel's hands (as she was holding it at the time), which still tingle months later whenever she remembers the incident. A third that Black Glove planted in Euterpe's rocket is actually seen by others before disintegrating, and a fourth explodes in a ''big'' way in ''Forever Begins Tomorrow'', taking a shark with it ([[spoiler: which turns out to be a robot sent to guard the transmitter]]).

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', the ancient Luxan ship is equipped with a self-destructing security mechanism powerful enough to blow up the ship it's parked in. Thankfully, it also loops through a vocal message explaining how to defuse it: It requires [[spoiler:any one of three keys only a Luxan is supposed to have; [[NationalWeapon Qualta blades]] are one of them]].
* In ''Series/LaFemmeNikita'', some sensitive information is stored on shadow drives -- hard drives which must be read backwards, or they will erase their data.
* In the first episode of ''Series/UFO1970'', Colonel Straker is carrying a briefcase chained to his wrist with taped evidence of a FlyingSaucer. When a British minister wants to look at the contents, Straker flicks a catch hidden under a nameplate, exposing the words DESTRUCT NEGATIVE, before opening the briefcase. Unfortunately the aliens who subsequently attack the vehicle are more interested in destroying this evidence than stealing it.
* In an episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'', when Jack O'Neill and [[RogueAgent Harry Maybourne]] were investigating Senator Robert Kinsey, Maybourne accesses his computer, but not before inserting a MagicFloppyDisk from within a bag in an otherwise empty fridge. He states that if somebody tried to start his computer without the floppy, he'd burn the hard disk.
* In a very early episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'', the First Doctor explains that if anyone tries to unlock the TARDIS doors without the proper key, the lock mechanism will destroy itself and render the doors permanently unopenable, thus preventing anyone from stealing the TARDIS. It was never mentioned again.

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''.
** Matrix software
*** The Scramble IC program is often used to protect computer datastores with valuable information. If a decker tries to break through the Scramble and fails, it will overwrite the stored information with random characters, rendering it worthless.
*** A decker tries to disarm a Data Bomb protecting a file and fails. If the Data Bomb was programmed to do so, it will erase the file it was protecting.

* ''Hot Chicks'' RPG. Escorts from the Arcturus Escort Corporation have built-in cybernetic data recorders to capture their clients' secrets. If anyone tries to tamper with an escort's recorder it overloads, destroying the stored data and killing the escort.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'' one of the security measures you can purchase for your gateway is a self-destruct mechanism as a last resort if the Feds are closing in on you. You lose all the hardware, but get to keep your reputation and avoid being [[GameOver disavowed]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', Desert Temples contain a room with four treasure chests, each containing rare and valuable loot. At the center of the room, however, is a pressure plate linked to nine blocks of TNT hidden beneath the floor. One must tread carefully, because if exploded, the TNT will destroy the chests and everything inside, and probably kill the player as well.

* {{Downplayed}} in ''VideoGame/TheRiddleOfMasterLu'': When Ripley finally grabs the MacGuffin from the tomb of the first emperor of China, he finds out that Master Lu had some final mechanism designed to keep it from falling to the wrong hands whose secret Ripley didn't uncover, and which causes liquid mercury to start flooding the place. It happens so slowly you can just walk away, so it should be useless, but it just happens that [[spoiler: the game's last villain shows up to slow Ripley's escape and ends up taking the MacGuffin with him as he gets flooded by the mercury, effectively helping the mechanism do what it was supposed to do.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'', the G-Virus sample is stored deep inside Umbrella's hidden laboratory. If it's removed without authorization, the entire lab is then set to blow up so that the virus doesn't spread outside as well as preventing anyone from stealing it.

* Spy missions in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' task you with breaking into a number of secure facilities to retrieve [[MacGuffin sensitive data]] from the terminals inside, eluding various security mechanisms as you go. Being detected by security will trigger a destruction program on the terminal, giving you a strict time limit to reach your target and retrieve the data before it's lost.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' the planet itself has self-destruct booby trap that will activate should anyone finds Captain Flint's treasure hoard. The trigger is ''right by'' the entrance to the main vault, so by the time the average person realizes there is a trap, they're screwed.

* The Holy Grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' is protected by many layers of secrets, guards and traps. The final resort, however, is that the Grail can never pass beyond "The Great Seal". Doing so results in the entire place self destructing and the Grail being lost forever.

** ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'': Bond's attache case has numerous built-in gadgets including a magnetically attached tear-gas canister stored inside. Opening the case without first rotating the clasps triggers the grenade and gives any would-be-snoop a face full of the gas. [[spoiler:This turns out to be just the edge Bond needs when held at gunpoint by Red Grant, whose greed Bond uses to trick him into opening the case.]]
** ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': As a shout out, it's implied that Bond's case still has similar defensive measures in the following film, even though they're never explicitly mentioned. After being captured, he talks to one of Goldfinger's henchwomen on the plane.
-->'''Bond:''' Did any of my luggage survive with me? And my attache case?
-->'''Mei-Lei:''' Black attache case damaged when examined. So sorry.

** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': Bond's Lotus Esprit has an anti-theft measure which blows it up if it's broken into, forcing Bond to flee the pursuing villains in beat-up Citroën [=2CV=]. Considering all the high tech gear in every car Bond drives, it's probably more to protect those things than the car itself.

* In the New Year's Day 2012 ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "A Scandal in Belgravia," Irene Adler's phone, containing lots of politically-sensitive data, contains miniature explosives that will destroy it if anyone attempts to physically remove the hard drive, or enters the wrong passcode too many times. Upon hearing this, Mycroft immediately suggests they simply destroy the device, after all the government wants to keep anyone else from getting the data, not get it themselves. Irene counters that's only a good idea if the phone doesn't ''also'' contain vital information the government will want, and she refuses to say if it does or not.
** A variation on that is actually done in the season 3 ending where [[spoiler:Sherlock kills Charles Augustus Magnussen, all of whose blackmail information is in his head, to prevent him from revealing Mary's secret identity. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake for Magnussen to reveal this to Sherlock]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'' one of the security measures you can purchase for your gateway is a self-destruct mechanism as a last resort if the Feds are closing in on you. You lose all the hardware, but get to keep your reputation and avoid being disavowed (ie, gameover).

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' the planet itself has self-destruct booby trap that will activate should anyone finds Captain Flint's treasure hoard. The trigger is ''right by'' the entrance to the main vault, so by the time the average person realizes there is a trap, they're screwed.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': In the flashback episode devoted to the beginnings of NERV, Fuyutsuki is seen carrying a briefcase with a self-destruct [[ShoutOut almost identical]] to the ''Series/{{UFO}}'' example below.

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{UFO}}'', Colonel Straker is carrying a briefcase chained to his wrist with taped evidence of a FlyingSaucer. When a British minister wants to look at the contents, Straker flicks a catch hidden under a nameplate, exposing the words DESTRUCT NEGATIVE, before opening the briefcase. Unfortunately the aliens who subsequently attack the vehicle are more interested in destroying this evidence than stealing it.

* In ''Film/TheItalianJob2003'' the villain's big safe has a piece of glass inside the door; if the glass breaks - and drilling into the safe will almost definitely achieve this - the lock's tumblers will be unable to rotate properly and the safe will be permanently sealed. Doesn't actually destroy the gold inside, but the safe is ''huge''; if you have the tools to rip the door off, doing so would have been your first option, not second. [[spoiler:Creator/CharlizeTheron's character ends up opening it the old-fashioned way, by listening and feeling out the combination, a skill she inherited from her late father]].