【1995 Archives】

If you happen to995 Archivesan old Android device lying around and a reason to worry about people messing with your business, Edward Snowden has an app for that.

Haven is an open-source project that Snowden developed in conjunction with Freedom of the Press Foundation and Guardian Project. You can find directions and links for downloading and installing it on the latter organization's Github page.

This isn't your typical security app.

Haven doesn't lock down a single device or prevent tampering; instead, it repurposes an Android device -- an old, unused one, preferably -- and, using an assortment of built-in sensors, turns it into a multi-functional security gadget.

These sensors include your Android smartphone or tablet's accelerometer, camera, microphone, light sensor, and ability to detect when a power supply is plugged in or removed. The app monitors each one for measurable changes and records any activity in an event log.

That event log is then accessible through the Tor Onion Service, which allows users to communicate anonymously over computer networks. The app can also send out alert notifications via SMS or the secure messaging app, Signal.

Putting the app to work requires a little outside-the-box thinking. You can use it to, say, monitor a room for movement -- or even as a baby monitor. You can also leave it lying on top of something you want to keep secure, like a laptop. It won't keep intruders out or prevent tampering, but it will use the app-bearing device's various sensors to record what's happening.

Haven only works with Android devices for now. The project's website notes that iOS support is a hope for the future, but for now the best you can do is use your Apple device to receive alerts from the app.

Setting all of this up -- and even just understanding what sets software like Signal or Tor apart -- requires some amount of technical knowhow. The Github page linked above is a good starting point, but it might be worth spending some time poking around on Google before giving Haven a shot if any of this sounds foreign to you.

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