• March 29, 2024

SPIES OFF-LINE: New gadget to thwart unwanted wireless snooping

Image from plugunplug.net
Image from plugunplug.net

A new surveillance device has been developed that has the potential to stop drones and Google Glass wearers from hacking into one’s Wi-Fi network. Cyborg Unplug works by sending de-authentication signals to unwanted monitoring or spying devices.

The device is the size of a computer adaptor, so it can be transported anywhere and can be plugged into any mains socket. Once the Cyborg Unplug detects an unwanted appliance, it alerts the owner of the Wi-Fi network with a flashing light, or a sound through speakers, while it can also send a text message to the user’s cell phone.

The product, which was developed by programmer Julian Oliver, also kicks off devices trying to access the wireless network. He hopes he will begin taking orders for the device at the end of the month.

“Basically it’s a wireless defense shield for your home or place of work,” Oliver says. “The intent is to counter a growing and tangibly troubling emergence of wirelessly capable devices that are used and abused for surveillance and voyeurism,”Wired.com reported him as saying.

Image from ulianoliver.com
Image from ulianoliver.com

Oliver, who lives in Berlin, came up with the idea in the summer, after a friend complained that someone who was wearing a Google Glass device had potentially uploaded content from an exhibition he had put on. He managed to detect how the device had accessed the Wi-Fi connection and wrote a free program about how to prevent this in the future.

Keep reading…

Related post