Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders face a constant battle to keep their files safe from digital threats. Physical attacks can be difficult to defend against, from an opportunist snatch-and- grab thief to an oppressive government.
BusKill launched a custom magnetic cable that acts as a dead man's switch, locking a computer if someone physically snatches it and severs the magnetic connectors.
The cable locks the computer. The image is of BusKill.
BusKill has been in the works for more than two years. The source code only worked on Linux and components sold out quickly.
The cable is now available to buy for $59 and has an app that works on Windows, Linux, and macOS that allows the person using the cable to easily arm and disarm the cable with a touch of a button.
BusKill was designed to protect people from the risk of being knocked down by the secret police, according to the project's creator Michael Altfield. I wanted it to be accessible to journalists who don't know how to use a command line interface.
Linux users can further modify the app to cause a self-destruct command, which will render the computer's data inaccessible in just a few seconds.
When the magnetic cable is severed, the project plans to release atrigger that shuts down the computer.
The cable can protect the computers of travelers on vacation and other high-risk users, even though it was designed with journalists and activists in mind.
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