Privacy advocates have something new to complain about. ProxyHam, a router that can hide your location, has been terminated under mysterious circumstances. ProxyHam is equipped with a 900 MHz radio, allowing it to connect to Wi-Fi as far as two miles away and then broadcast the signal to your device.
Rhino Security Labs' Benjamin Caudill, the proprietor of the anonymizing router, was set to present and sell ProxyHam at this year's DefCon hacking conference in Las Vegas, but his presentation was abruptly cancelled without explanation. Additionally, Rhino Security Labs Tweeted they'll be destroying all their ProxyHam routers and won't release any more of its source code or details.
Existing #proxyham units will be disposed of and no longer be made available at @_defcon_
--- Rhino Security Labs (@RhinoSecurity) July 10, 2015
Caudill was enthused about ProxyHam, which he described earlier this month as a way to "keep safe" through anonymity. In a phone call with Wired, Caudill said he's unable to speak about the project's cancellation. Since he runs Rhino Security Labs, we can rule out this being a supervisor's decision and because it's unlikely Caudill cancelled ProxyHam of his own volition, we're left wondering what happened.
A probable cause for ProxyHam's demise is intervention from the U.S. government. The government could give a range of reasons, from terrorism to cyber-crime, as to why the anti-surveillance router shouldn't exist. Caudill's apparent silence on the matter hints that he's bound by some sort of legal gag order. Interestingly, the FCC has been ruled out by Caudill as a potential oppressor, pointing to another perhaps more militant agency.
When TechSpot asked Caudill via email if he was facing legal proceedings over ProxyHam, he declined to comment. We'll keep you in the loop if anything changes.