Hot Ninja Communicates Anonymously via Wi-Fi SSIDs

With the widespread attempts of government and other entities to control and track our online activities, Moscow-based media artist Dmitry Morozov (AKA ::vtol::) has come up with a way to create his own portable public Wi-Fi messaging system. His device, named “Hot Ninja,” as an apparent reference to its function as a Wi-Fi hotspot generator, uses three ESP8266 modules to form thee separate networks simultaneously.

By itself, this means that people searching for a Wi-Fi network in a public space will be able to see these network names, giving the device 96 characters to communicate with would-be web browsers. It can also be set up to mimic well-known hotspots to invite users to actually log on. Once a user is connected, the Hot Ninja can then generate a “welcome page.” This page can be a more involved message, such as A Cyberpunk Manifesto used in the video demonstration below. It can even receive feedback via a message form, and act as an anonymous chat device when configured correctly.

An Arduino Mega acts as the brain of this hacking tool, and a button keyboard OLED screen is integrated on a metal frame, giving it a very cyberpunk feel visually-speaking. The Hot Ninja can function for up to eight hours on its built-in battery, for a full day’s worth of hacking and anonymous messaging!

More details on the project can be found on ::vtol::’s write-up.