We’re happy to announce the release of BusKill v0.5.0
Upgrading
You can upgrade your BusKill app to the latest version either by
- Clicking “Update” in the app or
- Downloading it from GitHub
We’re happy to announce the release of BusKill v0.5.0
You can upgrade your BusKill app to the latest version either by
We’re very excited to announce that BusKill cables are now available for purchase via CrowdSupply!
This week we launched the BusKill crowdfunding campaign on CrowdSupply.
The DIY guide to build a BusKill laptop kill cord was released last year. Designed to protect journalists, activists, travelers, and crypto traders — this USB Dead Man’s Switch can trigger your computer to lock if someone physically snatches your computer away from you while you’re using it.
You can buy a BusKill cable today from CrowdSupply:
You can also buy a BusKill cable with bitcoin, monero, and other altcoins directly from our BusKill Store:
This post will introduce a simple udev rule and ~$20 in USB hardware that effectively implements a kill cord Dead Man Switch to trigger your machine to self-destruct in the event that you’re kicked out of the helm position.
ⓘ Note: This is an old article that is out-of-date.
To learn how to install BusKill, see our BusKill GUI App Documentation.

Let’s consider a scenario: You’re at a public location (let’s say a cafe) while necessarily authenticated into some super important service (let’s say online banking). But what if–after you’ve carefully authenticated–someone snatch-and-runs with your laptop?
Maybe you can call your bank to freeze your accounts before they’ve done significant financial harm. Maybe you can’t.
Or maybe your laptop was connected to your work VPN. In less than 60 seconds and with the help of a rubber ducky, the thief could literally cause millions of dollars in damages to your organization.
Surely there must be some solution to trigger your computer to lock, shutdown, or self-destruct when it’s physically separated from you! There is: I call it BusKill.