Lock spies out

Online and wherever you are

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Cyborg Unplug is a privacy appliance for the home, hotel, and workplace. It detects and disconnects (disconnection feature only outside the US) selected devices are known to pose a risk to personal privacy, stopping streams of image, video, and audio data to the Internet (or the car outside).

Using a Virtual Private Network, this little plug also encrypts the Internet traffic of any device wirelessly connected to it, locking out spies along the route and firewalling wireless devices from intrusion attempts. Fitted with a USB port, it can be used to share files on a USB stick privately or simply charge your phone.

Using a Cyborg Unplug is easy and requires no extra software on your phone, tablet, or laptop.

Wireless surveillance

For those concerned about privacy, today’s technology brings new challenges: companies big and small are building pervasive product lines around tiny, network-enabled computers with powerful cameras, sensors, and microphones. From tiny wireless cameras to quadcopters/drones, these new technologies – while not always intended as such – are routinely used to compromise privacy in the home, hotel, and workplace.

CAMOUFLAGE

DRONES

TINY CAMERAS

Online surveillance

Just visiting a website, your device sends and receives many network packets, each of which are conveyed by many machines along their journey. Hidden from view in the interfaces we use, this infrastructure is not only privately owned and administered but may reside in countries with surveillance agendas that intentionally undermine our right to privacy. Without an encrypted route, we have little choice but to trust that those unseen entities that control the networks we use will play fair and not capture, study, and share our online activities without consent.

Detect spy devices

Cyborg Unplug sniffs the air for wireless signatures from devices you’ve selected to detect, sending you an email alert if it does. It can also optionally and automatically disconnect them (outside the US only) from whatever network device they’re connected to by sending specially crafted wireless de-authentication packets. This stops them from streaming video, audio, and other data to the Internet (or the room next door).

Detected wireless devices currently include wearable spy cameras, microphones, Amazon Echo, Dropcam, small drones/copters and a variety of popular spy devices disguised as familiar objects (like smoke detectors and lightbulbs).

Share a VPN over Wi-Fi

At any given time there are a dozen or more computers between you and the website you’re visiting, often spanning multiple countries. It’s here that tunneling or route encryption becomes important, with Virtual Private Networking the popular choice among information security professionals.

Cyborg Unplug makes using a VPN easy, with no need for extra software download or installs on your laptop, phone or tablet. Simply connect your Cyborg Unplug to the Internet, load in an OpenVPN file (ends with .ovpn), and all devices connected wired or wirelessly to Cyborg Unplug can enjoy the privacy of encrypted Internet traffic, locking out spies along the route. Use services like Mullvad, VPN Book, IPredator or your organization’s own VPN.

Alternatively, use the Cyborg Unplug free VPN service (Premium models only) routed through Germany, built with special ‘sheathing’ technology to traverse firewalls (including the ‘Great Firewall of China’) undetected.

A classroom, organization, family abroad or seminar group can all enjoy a secure, encrypted tunnel over the border and to the Internet, merely by wirelessly connecting to a Cyborg Unplug in VPN mode.

Share a USB stick over Wi-Fi

This feature does away with the need for using services like DropBox in classroom situations, making it quick and easy to privately share files between people.

Not only is it saner that sending files around the globe when you’re all in the same room, it has a significantly lower carbon footprint. More so, it’s offline – no Internet connection is required. Just plug in a USB stick and share the files wirelessly.

Using Cyborg Unplug Along With Smart Home Products

With the help of smart home technology, you can connect all your electronics and home appliances using the internet. This will help you control, monitor various activities in your home with the help of your mobile without being physically involved. This increased efficiency of the appliance involves, enhances surveillance and security of your home. There are many such available smart home products on the market. As your smart home products are interconnected over the internet you should use Cyborg Unplug to ensure the security of the devices.

Below is a list of devices.

Order Unplug

Little Snipper Solo

Sold out

$29 + $7.20 shipping

Feature

2.4Ghz detector

Detects and disconnects (disconnection feature outside the US only) most common classes of wireless surveillance device

LED alert

sends email alerts to an account you configure

US plug standard, with Euro adaptor for travelers

Wirelessly tunnel multiple devices (phones, laptops, tablets) through a VPN you configure, no need for extra software on any device

Share files from a USB stick over the network, with no need for third-party apps (like DropBox)

With no settings applied, functions as a pocket-sized travel route

Little Snipper Premium

Sold out

$58 ~ free shipping

Features

2.4Ghz detector

Detects and disconnects (disconnection feature outside US only) most common classes of wireless surveillance device

LED alert

Sends email alerts to an account you configure

US plug standard, with Euro adaptor for travelers

Wirelessly tunnel multiple devices (phones, laptops, tablets) through a VPN you configure, no need for extra software on any device

Share files from a USB stick over the network, with no need for third-party apps (like DropBox)

With no settings applied, functions as a pocket-sized travel router

Free, 24/7 high-speed VPN service. No extra fees. Censorship-circumventing’ ‘ sheathed’ tunnel to Cyborg Unplug OpenVPN server in Germany. Virtually undetectable, it appears as standard HTTPS traffic.

High quality and rugged travel case

1m, high-quality ribbon ethernet cable

Home Bake

Firmware Only

Get it on GitHub

Features

Install our firmware on a compatible device you already own

Developer friendly

Free and Open Source.

Study, modify and redistribute the code

Support the cause

Stop the cyborgs was founded in response to the combination of wearable technology with ”big data”. The aim of the movement is to stop a future in which privacy is impossible and where the iron cage of surveillance and control pervades every aspect of life. Add a donation using the pre-order interface to help keep Stop the Cyborgs running.

Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. Add a donation using the pre-order interface to help keep the EFF running.

Tactical Tech is an organization dedicated to the use of information in activism. They work hard to advance the skills, tools, and techniques of human rights advocates, empowering them to use information and communications to help marginalized communities understand and effect progressive social, environmental and political change. Add a donation using the pre-order interface to help keep Tactical Tech running.

OpenWrt is the giant on whose shoulders Cyborg Unplug stands; a finely crafted Free and Open Source toolkit for building high-quality GNU/Linux firmware for a vast array of wireless router hardware. Without OpenWrt, Cyborg Unplug would be very expensive and difficult to develop. Add a donation using the pre-order interface to help the OpenWrt team with their running costs.

Frequently asked questions

+ How does it work?

Every wireless (WiFi) device has a unique hardware signature assigned to it by the manufacturer. These signatures are broadcast by wireless devices as they probe for, connect to and use wireless networks.

Cyborg Unplug sniffs the air for these signatures, looking for devices its owner has selected to ban. If a device selected to be banned is discovered, an alarm is triggered (LED, and email). Further, if that device is found to be connected to a network that Cyborg Unplug is trained to guard, an optional stream of special ‘de-authentication’ signals (packets) are sent to disconnect it*. It does this automatically without any interaction required by its owner.

* Non-US model only

+ Is this legal?

Those in the US, please see the next FAQ entry, below.

It is perfectly legal to block any device you choose from a wireless network you own and/or administer. Many wireless routers allow an administrator to create blacklists, although generally they are limited to specific devices rather than an entire product.

Cyborg Unplug is just as legal, differing only in that it takes a ‘direct action’ approach to wireless defense: a detect and optional disconnect routine, alarm system, and an automatically updated list of devices able to be banned.

NOTE: Detecting and disconnecting devices you prohibit from using your network using Cyborg Unplug is known as Territory Mode, and is the recommended mode for using the method. Disconnecting devices from using systems that are not yours (All Out Mode) may not be legal in your jurisdiction, however. Please be sure you are aware of local legal restrictions and the risks involved and understand that we take no responsibility for your choice to use this mode.

A screwdriver can be used as a weapon and it can also be used to fix your stereo; if Cyborg Unplug is used irresponsibly, to cause undue harm of any sort, it’s no responsibility of ours!

+ Why no disconnection feature for the US model?

Until recently, a ‘jammer’ anywhere in the world was classed as a device which indiscriminately disrupts communications within a given (radio) band by flooding it with noise. Cyborg Unplug does not do this. Rather it selectively targets specific devices selected by the owner and leaves the rest alone.

However, even though we use FCC approved router hardware, 2015 changes to FCC regulation in the US appear to class jamming as any intentional disruption to a network service done by a civilian, even if it’s your own hardware. For this reason, after months of legal consultation, it appears we cannot legally ship Cyborg Unplug with the disconnection feature to US customers without great risk to ourselves.

Please note that when we started this project, this was not the case. Note also that this restriction does not legally apply to our free and open source firmware release, installed onto alternative router hardware you already own.

NOTE: Should the law change at a later date, it will be trivial for US citizens to upload and run the firmware version with the disconnection feature on the existing device; the difference is only in the code.

+ Does it shut down spy devices entirely?

It doesn’t and it can’t. It only stops them from streaming what they record to a device or service on the Internet (Skype running on a laptop or a cloud service). Sadly, this is the case for most wireless devices used for surveillance; streaming to a machine on the Internet or in a nearby room allows for remote backups and surveillance while ensuring the offending device contains no evidence (files) of the abuse.

Both our research and the market itself shows that spies don’t want to be getting up on ladders swapping out SD cards every few hours from a device in the target’s room. This is why WiFi spy devices are rapidly replacing the ‘record on board’ devices of yesterday. Check out the public market for WiFi cameras disguised as smoke detectors to get a sense of the scale of the problem, applied to just one familiar-looking object.

+ Why not just password protect my wifi?

Cyborg Unplug isn’t designed for use in those cases where there is already strict control over who uses the local wireless network. Rather, it’s for those with networks used by many people (school, office, library, bar, cafe) that either give out the password or provide an open network.

Wireless devices used to spy and stream images/video/audio/data to the Internet using that network (Territory Mode) or via any system (All Out Mode, which includes tethered connections to phones) will be detected. An alarm is then signaled, and Cyborg Unplug disconnects the detected device (please see CAN IT BE USED TO DISCONNECT DEVICES FROM ANY NETWORK? below for more information).

Importantly, no encryption of any kind is a hindrance to the detection and disconnection of wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth) devices by Cyborg Unplug: it operates at a level below the IP network (specifically at Layer 2 of the OSI stack).

+ What if I want to allow drones but block hidden cameras?

Naturally, there are many reasons you’d like to allow some devices while disallowing others. You may for instance own a Google Glass but want to detect and disallow spy cameras hidden in clothing or objects, like wristwatches and smoke detectors.

Cyborg Unplug has no bias: its owner selects the devices to disconnect, leaving others to freely connect and use your network.

+ Can it be used to disconnect devices on any network (non-US model)?

In short yes. But be sure to read on to understand the implications…

Disconnecting devices from using networks that are not yours (All Out Mode) may not be legal in your jurisdiction, however. As such this model is not generally recommended. Please be sure you are aware of local legal restrictions and the risks involved and understand that we take no responsibility for your choice to use this mode. Cyborg Unplug can be operated in two modes. The recommended mode is Territory Mode, disconnecting target devices from the selected network(s) owned and operated by the user.

+ What about device updates?

If your Cyborg Unplug is connected to the Internet (via an Ethernet cable to your router) it will and securely (over an end-to-end encrypted VPN connection) download lists of wireless devices known to be used to threaten your privacy soon after they hit the market. This means that as detectable hardware addresses change, your Cyborg Unplug will automatically become aware of them.

Any improvements to software will also be pushed to the device, with a notification sent by email.

+ Wouldn’t be changing the hardware address fool the Unplug?

Yes it would. For this to happen however the device used for spying would have to be ‘rooted’ or running alternative firmware. This is not only often very difficult (in some cases practically impossible on tiny embedded devices), it’s also something hardware manufacturers generally discourage, voiding warranty. As such we consider altered hardware addresses to be a fringe case.

+ What about spy devices tethered by Bluetooth?

We’re currently looking into sniffing and breaking Bluetooth connections with the same degree of accuracy as connections using WiFi. This would be made possible on Cyborg Unplug with the purchase of an additional Bluetooth USB dongle. Please note that detecting and disconnecting select Bluetooth devices may not be legal within your jurisdiction.

+ Where do you ship to?

We ship just about anywhere. Please note we only initially have options US plug fixtures now. An EU adaptor is shipped with the device.

+ Is this an open-source project?

The software part is indeed, built atop OpenWrt. Free and Open Source. The code has been made publicly available under the GNU General Public License, here. A firmware download has been made available such that the more intrepid person can flash it onto a select range of compatible hardware targets.

The hardware part of Little Snipper is a RAMIPS 5350f board sourced in Shenzhen, China, (like almost every wireless router sold), tested for quality and heavily audited for security. Only our firmware and an audited open source bootloader runs on the device. With high volumes of sales, we may move to an entirely open-source, self-designed board in the future.

+ How did this project start?

Cyborg Unplug launched on September 30, 2014, hot on the heels of glasshole.sh, a script written by Julian Oliver to detect and disconnect Google’s Glass devices. Following broad coverage in the press, the script struck a chord with many all over the world that felt either frustrated or threatened by the growing abuse of covert, camera-enabled computer technology. The call was clear: build it into a device and we’ll buy it.

Crystelle V – Project management, Communication.

“Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world” . A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto, 1993