Gryphon Wi-Fi Router Designed To Block Internet Attacks

Data hacks and network infiltrations aren’t only the problem of companies around the globe. Consumers can also get hacked, which is why startups are coming up with all sorts of ways to protect consumers from becoming a victim.

One new device, featured in a Bloomberg Businessweek report, is a product out of Gryphon Online Safety, the 17-person startup based in San Diego. Gryphon has developed a Wi-Fi router that is designed to block cyberattacks. According to the profile by Bloomberg, when the Gryphon is plugged into a broadband modem, the software installed monitors other wireless devices, like thermostats and webcams, and looks for unusual internet traffic or activity. It also scans regular internet traffic.

The Gryphon is targeted at consumers. The device is open to preorders for $149 on Kickstarter until Dec. 9. It will retail for $199 and doesn’t include a subscription to antivirus software, which Bloomberg said will cost around $40 a year.

The router comes at a time when consumers are looking for more protection in light of a big denial-of-service attack recently that brought down a handful of websites for some time. According to a recent Forbes report, the distributed denial-of-service attacks even successfully knocked independent cybersecurity news site Krebs on Security offline, with somewhere between 600 gigabits per second and 700 gigabits per second of traffic.

Two sources familiar with the attacks told Forbes the victims targeted by the hacker crew were hit by tens of thousands of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as unsecure routers, digital video recorders and connected IP cameras. These connected devices have been reported as vulnerable to hacks and, when compromised, can be used to send extremely large volumes of traffic to a site.