News
- Startup’s ribbon-based holographic tape promises 200TB per LTO cartridge
- The tech uses polymer film and $5 laser to write optical voxels
- Integrates into LTO systems with no upstream software or hardware changes
UK startup HoloMem is developing a holographic storage system aimed at replacing or supplementing LTO tape.
The company, founded by former Dyson engineer Charlie Gale, uses polymer ribbon cartridges written with $5 laser diodes. Each 100-meter cartridge could store up to 200TB in a write-once, read-many format.
The cartridges match LTO dimensions and work in existing tape libraries without changes to upstream software. Drives function as drop-in shelves, allowing libraries to operate in a hybrid LTO and HoloMem setup.
HO1OThe idea began at Dyson, where Gale helped create a holographic label system called HO1O. It embedded multiple QR codes in a single hologram, readable from different angles or light sources.
“What we originally did at HO1O for prototypes was to use a light-sensitive polymer material that you just exposed to laser light… it locks polymer change and retains that image,” Gale told Blocks & Files.
This concept evolved into multi-layer data storage using similar materials.
Unlike other optical approaches that use glass or ceramics, HoloMem writes data as holographic voxels into polymer film. The film uses a 16-micron thick polymer sheet laminated between PET layers, forming a 120-micron ribbon.
The prototype HoloDrive writes and reads holograms using a 3D-printed lens and a digital micromirror device.
“We are writing data pages of thousands of bits,” Gale said. Throughput hasn’t been disclosed, although it reportedly operates at LTO-9 speeds. The drive uses £30 circuit boards and modified LTO mechanics.
HoloMem has received £900,000 in UK innovation grants and is partnering with TechRe and QStar for field trials and integration testing. It holds patents for the optical engine, media design and volumetric storage method.
Blocks & Files reports: “We understand TechRe will deploy prototype Holodrives inside LTO libraries in its UK data centers to test out the product’s performance, reliability and robustness. HoloMem has written device firmware so that, we understand, it presents itself as a kind of LTO drive.”
Future capacity increases may come through multi-channel recording, using multiple light wavelengths to layer data. Each added channel could multiply storage with no hardware change.
You might also like- Only 2% of enterprises are highly ready for AI, report claims
- Fewer than one-third have deployed AI firewalls to date
- Another one in three could do with diversifying their AI models
Although more and more applications are getting AI overhauls, new F5 research had claimed only 2% of enterprises are highly ready for AI.
More than one in five (21%) fall into the low-readiness category, and while three-quarters (77%) are considered moderately ready, they continue to face security and governance hurdles.
This comes as one in four applications use AI, with many organizations splitting their AI usage across multiple models including paid models like GPT-4 and open-source models like Llama, Mistral and Gemma.
Enterprises aren't benefitting from the AI they have access toAlthough 71% of the State of AI Application Strategy Report respondents said they use AI to enhance security, F5 highlighted ongoing challenges with security and governance. Fewer than one in three (31%) have deployed AI firewalls, and only 24% perform continuous data labelling, potentially increasing risks.
Looking ahead, one in two (47%) say they plan on deploying AI firewalls in the next year. F5 also recommends that enterprises diversify AI models across paid and open-source opens, scale AI usage to operations, analytics and security, and deploy AI-specific protections like firewalls and data governance strategies.
At the moment, it's estimated that two-thirds (65%) use two or more paid models and at least one open-source model, demonstrating considerable room for improvement.
"As AI becomes core to business strategy, readiness requires more than experimentation—it demands security, scalability, and alignment," F5 CPO and CMO John Maddison explained.
The report highlights how enterprises that lack of maturity can stifle growth, introduce operational bottlenecks and present compliance challenges.
"AI is already transforming security operations, but without mature governance and purpose-built protections, enterprises risk amplifying threats," Maddison added.
You might also like- Why not consider the best AI tools and best AI writers
- Make your workers more efficient with the best productivity tools
- Many SMBs say they can't get to grips with AI, need more training
- Hackers only need cheap hardware and basic skills to stop a moving freight train remotely
- The American Association of Railways dismissed the threat until federal pressure forced a response
- The system still isn’t fixed, and full updates won’t arrive until at least 2027
A critical flaw in the wireless systems used across US rail networks has remained unresolved for more than a decade, exposing trains to remote interference.
The vulnerability affects End-of-Train (EoT) devices, which relay data from the last carriage to the front of the train, forming a link with the Head-of-Train (HoT) module.
Although the issue was flagged in 2012, it was largely dismissed until federal intervention forced a response.
Ignored warnings and delayed responsesHardware security researcher Neils first identified the flaw in 2012, when software-defined radios (SDRs) began to proliferate.
The discovery revealed that these radios could easily mimic signals sent between the HoT and EoT units.
Since the system relies on a basic BCH checksum and lacks encryption, any device transmitting on the same frequency could inject false packets.
In a concerning twist, the HoT is capable of sending brake commands to the EoT, which means an attacker could stop a train remotely.
“This vulnerability is still not patched,” Neils stated on social media, revealing it took over a decade and a public advisory from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) before meaningful action was taken.
The issue, now catalogued as CVE-2025-1727, allows for the disruption of U.S. trains with hardware costing under $500.
Neils's findings were met with skepticism by the American Association of Railways (AAR), which dismissed the vulnerability as merely “theoretical” back in 2012.
Attempts to demonstrate the flaw were thwarted due to the Federal Railway Authority's lack of a dedicated test track and the AAR denying access to operational sites.
Even after the Boston Review published the findings, the AAR publicly refuted them via a piece in Fortune.
By 2024, the AAR’s Director of Information Security continued to downplay the threat, arguing that the devices in question were approaching end-of-life and didn’t warrant urgent replacement.
It wasn’t until CISA issued a formal advisory that the AAR began outlining a fix. In April 2025, an update was announced, but full deployment is not expected until 2027.
The vulnerability stems from technology developed in the 1980s, when frequency restrictions reduced the risk of interference, but today’s widespread access to SDRs has altered the risk landscape dramatically.
“Turns out you can just hack any train in the USA and take control over the brakes,” Neils said, encapsulating the broader concern.
The ongoing delay and denial mean US trains are probably sitting on a keg of gunpowder that could lead to serious risks at any time.
Via TomsHardware
You might also like- These are the fastest SSDs you can buy right now
- Take a look at some of the best external hard drives available
- This popular WordPress plugin has been hijacked to push potential malware