Key outcomes
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Development of HackHunter Pursuit Portable WiFi tracker, HackHunter Vision
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Development of continuous monitoring sensors and HackHunter Insight analytics platform to accurately locate and analyse potentially malicious WiFi sources
Economic impact
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Hired more employees
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Engaged new customers globally
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Contracted resellers to sell HackHunter products in Australia, UK and EU
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Gained new investors
Government funding
$267,530
Industry funding
$267,530
The AustCyber Projects Fund is a $15 million, three-year initiative designed to help the Australian cyber security industry grow and take ideas global. Since launching in 2018, AustCyber has provided this funding to projects that are making a real contribution to growing Australia’s cyber security ecosystem, guided by the Sector Competitiveness Plan.
One of the participants in AustCyber’s Projects Fund was HackHunter, who used their involvement in the Projects Fund Program for the development of the HackHunter Pursuit Portable WiFi tracker, and the development of continuous monitoring sensors and HackHunter Insight analytics platform, which can be used to accurately locate and analyse potential malicious WiFi sources
Current methods of locating WiFi sources are not accurate, as they use radio frequency (RF) detection and provide information after the fact, writing the data to a log. WiFi routers and analysers can identify that there is something in the area that shouldn’t be there (within an approximately 5‐metre sphere) but can’t tell you where it is or anything about it. They also can’t differentiate between devices; for example, a microwave operates on the same frequency as WiFi.
During the CyRise (cyber security accelerator) program, which was completed in mid‐2019, HackHunter validated that locating WiFi sources with precision to improve WiFi security was a valid solution to a large, urgent problem not being addressed.
About HackHunter
HackHunter is an Australian wireless communication security company which locates any WiFi signal with precision within centimetres and provides real‐time, rich data expediting superior security and decision‐ making. HackHunter nodes, including the portable Pursuit WiFi tracker and Vision continuous monitoring sensors, send real‐time data to the HackHunter Insight analytics platform for analysis and reporting.
HackHunter analyses WiFi at the protocol level, providing accurate location of the source, to within a few centimetres, and detailed data including the type of device and communication, MAC address and devices connected to the WiFi source – all in real-time.
The grant allowed the company to employ not only a Technical Lead, but also a UX Designer/Marketer and a Full‐stack Software Engineer (who started as an intern and has since been employed), and to develop and launch the Pursuit tracker into the global market.
At the conclusion of the project, HackHunter had a market‐ready product that had been trialled in Australia, Canada, the USA, Malaysia and the EU, and which was purchased by the Australian Department of Defence and insurance companies in Australia and Canada.
The company now has a global patent for the Pursuit tracker and customers and resellers in Australia, the US, UK and EU in the finance, law enforcement, government, defence, and IT industries.
Learn more about HackHunter at their website.
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Find out more about the other projects involved with the AustCyber Projects Fund.
