Forget the tin foil hat: NSA-proof wallpaper could keep snoopers and 'doomsday' electromagnetic weapons at bay
- New flexible material can block electronic emission
- Blocks signals that could be used for cybersnooping
- Can also block electromagnetic 'doomsday' weapons
- Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
It could be the ultimate armour against cyberwarfare.
A Utah firm has revealed a new, flexible material that can create a 'faraday cage' blocking all electronic transmissions.
The material could even be used as wallpaper to protect entire rooms.
Scroll down for video
New flexible material can block electronic emission, stopping cybersnooping and thwarting attacks from electromagnetic 'doomsday' weapons.
New flexible material can block electronic emission, stopping cybersnooping and thwarting attacks from electromagnetic 'doomsday' weapons.
WHAT IS THE DOOMSDAY WEAPON?
Conductive Composites has created a method to layer nickel on carbon to form a material that's light and mouldable like plastic yet can disperse energy like a traditional metal cage.
'Our materials integrate game-changing conductivity and shielding performance as part of a multifunctional materials system, while preserving the basic weight, cost, structural, environmental, and manufacturing performance advantages of composites and plastics,' the firm says.
Using the wallpaper would allow people to easily turn entire rooms into Faraday cages.
The 'Faraday cage' is named for the English scientist Michael Faraday, who discovered the principles behind electromagnetic shielding.
It prevents electromagnetic radiation from penetrating its exterior, protecting whatever is inside from static, electromagnetic pulses, radio waves, and other electromagnetic phenomenon.
The material comes amid growing concern over the development of electromagnetic weapons that could knock out computers.
Controversial tech boss and presidential candidate John McAfee recently warned a 'doomsday' electronic weapon could wipe out 90% of Americans and urged politicians to is the number one threat facing the country.
McAfee, who recently announced he is running in 2016, wrote in a blog for International Business Times: 'Experts agree that an all out cyber attack, beginning with an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack on our electronic infrastructure, would wipe out 90% of the human population of this country within two years of the attack.
The firm also makes a range of secure cases using the new material
'That means the death of 270 million people within 24 months after the attack.'
He claims that the country, and its leaders are unprepared - and warned that gun crime should not be the 'single issue' that decided votes.
'Our leaders are nearly all ill prepared for this near certain, not-too-distant event.
'If I were forced to choose a single issue, this would obviously be the issue.'
From Ocean's Eleven to Star Trek, weapons that wipe out enemy electronics are a staple of science fiction films.
The missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon. This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of energy. The energy causes voltage surges in electronic equipment, rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to react
For years, scientists have been attempting to create such a weapon as part of Champ, or the Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project.
Now, the US Air Force claims it has advanced the technology, and says it can deploy it using the stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM).
The firm also makes a range of secure cases using the new material
The missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon. This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of energy. The energy causes voltage surges in electronic equipment, rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to react
WHAT IS A FARADAY CAGE?
There are fears a well targeted attack could knock out multiple power stations.
'This technology marks a new era in modern-day warfare,' said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works.
'In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy's electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive.'
McAfee says this is a huge issue being ignored.
McAfee, pictured, claims the country and its leaders are unprepared for EMP weapons - and warned that gun crime should not be the 'single issue' that decided votes.
He hit out at President Obama's focus on gun control.
On 2 October, President Obama declared: 'Here's what you need to do: You have to make sure that anybody that you are voting for is on the right side of this issue.'
If politicians oppose these measures, he continued, 'even if they're great on other stuff, you've got to vote against them.'
McAfee said he was initially confused by the statement.
'Frantically searching again for my benzodiazepines, and certain that rabid squirrels would imminently emerge from my wristwatch and form a tribunal accusing me of crimes against humanity, a saving thought flashed into my mind: What if the president is right? Could this simplification be the salvation of this long-suffering nation?'
He claims antidepressents could be to blame for the gun control issues.
'In the 1980s we saw the first wide scale use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (antidepressants), such as Prozac, Paxil and others.
'Hundreds of studies have shown that these antidepressants have side effects that include violent thoughts.
'A few minutes of research will tell us that 8% of the US population is taking antidepressants, yet a known 30% of all mass murderers since 1980 were taking antidepressants, and it is highly suspected that the real number approaches 90% – a statistical anomaly of egregious proportions.'
'But it is much easier to disprove a cause (as we did with guns above) than it is to prove a cause.'
'In any case, the President's proposal – that we abandon the complex process of weighing the near infinite issues that are important to us, and to choose a single issue upon which we can direct the entire future of our society, may well, in the confusion of my simple mind, be the Holy Grail of politics.
'But if it is then surely weighing the possible deaths of 90% of our citizens due to cyber warfare against gun violence which causes fewer deaths per year than traffic accidents, seems that possibly our president is suffering an acid flashback rather than myself.'
For years, scientists have been attempting to turn fantasy into reality by working on a system known as Champ, or Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project
According to Foxtrot Alpha, the weapons are alsmost ready for use.
Once integrated into JASSM, Champ will be a 'first day of war' standoff weapon it claims.
Because it can be launched by both bombers and fighters, Lockheed's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, is an ideal platform for Champ.
'The capability is real … and the technology can be available today,' said Major General Thomas Masiello, the Air Force Research Laboratory.
'That's an operational system already in our tactical air force'
In 2012, aircraft manufacturer Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military compound.
During Boeing's experiment, the missile flew low over the Utah Test and Training Range, discharging electromagnetic pulses on to seven targets, permanently shutting down their electronics.
Boeing said that the test was so successful even the camera recording it was disabled.
Although the project is shrouded in secrecy, experts believe the missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of energy which causes voltage surges in electronic equipment, rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to react.
Boeing's CHAMP takes out enemy electronics with pulse
The missile is equipped with an electromagnetic pulse cannon.
This uses a super-powerful microwave oven to generate a concentrated beam of energy.
The energy causes voltage surges in electronic equipment, rendering them useless before surge protectors have the chance to react
Keith Coleman, Champ programme manager for Boeing's prototype arm Phantom Works, claims the technology marked 'a new era in modern warfare'.
'In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy's electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive,' he said during the initial test.
However, experts fear that the project could create an arms race, with countries scrambling to build their own electromagnetic pulse weapons.
Professor Trevor Taylor, Professorial Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, has previously said the Western world would be more vulnerable attack because of its increased reliance on electronics.
'Should the US be known to have developed such a technology to the production stage, it would drive others to try to act similarly,' he said.
Read more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3286629/Forget-tin-foil-hat-NSA-proof-wallpaper-snoopers-doomsday-electromagnetic-weapons-bay.html#ixzz3r3QDhWNy
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
McAfee, pictured, claims the country and its leaders are unprepared for EMP weapons - and warned that gun crime should not be the 'single issue' that decided votes.
For years, scientists have been attempting to turn fantasy into reality by working on a system known as Champ, or Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project
