July 25, 2024
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The US Department of Homeland Security has unveiled a dog-like robot that it says has been adapted to jam the connectivity of smart home devices.
The DHS’s purchase of “NEO,” developed by Ghost Robotics, was announced to attendees during a speech at the Border Security Expo in Texas, according to a report by 404 Media, and is intended to overload home networks with so much traffic that IoT devices will be effectively disabled.
“NEO can enter a potentially dangerous environment to provide video and audio feedback to the officers before entry and allow them to communicate with those in that environment,” Benjamine Huffman, the director of DHS’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, told conference attendees. “NEO carries an onboard computer and antenna array that will allow officers the ability to create a ‘denial-of-service’ (DoS) event to disable Internet of Things devices that could potentially cause harm while entry is made.”
In short, NEO is more of a DoS than a dog. Arf arf.
The canine-like robot’s Wi-Fi-jamming capability was apparently first conceived after a suspect in a child sexual abuse investigation used his IoT doorbell camera to spy on FBI agents at his front door, ready to serve a search warrant. The resident used a weapon to shoot dead two agents through the closed front door, and injure three more.
It’s easy to see the appeal of using a robot like NEO – it can perform surveillance, communication, and be deployed in situations where law enforcement officers might be at risk of injury or encountering booby-traps.
Of course, the police would need to be careful to ensure that any robot they deployed is programmed not to attack frequencies that they themselves are using.
And we have to hope that such wireless-jamming technology isn’t used by anyone for malicious purposes.
If you’re worried about someone jamming your wireless smart home devices, whether you are likely to be visited by a robotic dog or not, then your best course of action may be to use old-fashioned hardwired devices instead.
Breathe a sigh of relief that, for now, the DHS does not appear to be planning any house calls with rifle-toting robot dogs.
