Episode
15 July 2025 Official episode · Official transcript
penetration test social engineering
Jack Rhysider interviews MG about hardware hacking, malicious USB devices, the O.MG cable, manufacturing, authorized red-team operations, and the ethical and legal risks of dual-use security tools.
Topics: Malicious USB cables and hardware implants, USB keyboard emulation and keystroke injection, USB keylogging and mouse injection, Wi-Fi-enabled payload control, HIDX StealthLink raw data tunneling, Geofencing and payload safety controls, Air-gapped system access, Persistence through physically attached hardware, Red-team physical intrusion operations, Supply-chain and electronics manufacturing quality control, Dual-use security tools and responsible distribution, Export controls for security hardware, Wi-Fi security testing and device fingerprinting
Links published on the Darknet Diaries episode page. Not LLM output.
No Sources heading on this episode page.
Qualified statements from this episode, not graph facts.
MG MEMBER_OF Defense Distributed
MG says he volunteered with Defense Distributed rather than describing himself as an employee.
Explicit Confidence 94% · Jack Rhysider EP 161 Details
“So, you worked at Defense Distributed? MG: Let’s just say volunteered.”
Team Fortress PART_OF Quake
MG describes Team Fortress as a modification to Quake.
Explicit Confidence 98% · MG EP 161 Details
“Team Fortress, kind of a modification to Quake itself”
MG USES Red teaming
MG worked in red-team roles, including developing the O.MG cable while doing red-team work.
Explicit Confidence 96% · MG EP 161 Details
“while still doing my red-team role full-time”
MG says he was interested in Bitcoin as it was taking off because of its decentralizing effect on power.
Explicit Confidence 91% · MG EP 161 Details
“I was also into that. I really like it at the time and the concept of it to just changing and decentralizing power.”
ANT catalog ASSOCIATED_WITH National Security Agency
Jack describes the ANT catalog as leaked NSA documents; MG discusses it as the NSA ANT catalog.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 161 Details
“This was some leaked NSA documents which showed different types of devices and technology”
Cottonmouth CONTAINS ANT catalog
MG says the ANT catalog included a malicious cable called Cottonmouth.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“one of the things in there was a malicious cable called the Cottonmouth”
ANT catalog ASSOCIATED_WITH Snowden leaks
MG says the ANT catalog was commonly misattributed to Snowden and came from another leaker around that time; this is an association with, not an identity claim about, the Snowden leaks.
Uncertain Confidence 86% · MG EP 161 Details
“this was commonly mis-attributed to Snowden. I believe officially it’s just another leaker around that time”
USB Rubber Ducky USES Keystroke injection
The USB Rubber Ducky emulates a keyboard and rapidly injects scripted keystrokes.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“it does keystroke injection. What that means is it emulates a keyboard”
USB Rubber Ducky DEVELOPED_BY Darren Kitchen
Jack says Darren Kitchen was making the Rubber Ducky as one of Hak5's malicious devices.
Explicit Confidence 91% · Jack Rhysider EP 161 Details
“Darren Kitchen was already making malicious devices like the Rubber Ducky”
Wi-Fi Pineapple DEVELOPED_BY Darren Kitchen
Jack says Darren Kitchen was making the Wi-Fi Pineapple.
Explicit Confidence 91% · Jack Rhysider EP 161 Details
“Darren Kitchen was already making malicious devices like the Rubber Ducky and Wi-Fi Pineapple”
Mr. Self Destruct DEVELOPED_BY MG
MG says he spent time making the exploding thumb drive called Mr. Self Destruct.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“I kinda spent a while making exactly that”
“I called this Mr. Self Destruct”
Mr. Self Destruct USES Keystroke injection
Mr. Self Destruct retained a limited version of USB Rubber Ducky functionality and could run a payload when plugged in.
Derived Confidence 84% · MG EP 161 Details
“I needed to figure out how to make space inside of a thumb drive while retaining Ducky functionality to an extent”
O.MG cable DEVELOPED_BY MG
MG describes designing and building the O.MG cable, including its PCB and features.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 161 Details
“So, he came up with a name for this cable, the O.MG cable”
“That took off. Then Defcon was coming up, August 2019”
O.MG cable USES Keystroke injection
The O.MG cable can emulate a keyboard and run keystroke-injection payloads.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“We already talked about keystroke injection payloads, emulating a keyboard”
O.MG cable USES mouse injection
The O.MG cable supports mouse injection for navigating and clicking on the host.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“added some mouse injection as well, so you can navigate a mouse around the screen”
O.MG cable USES USB keylogging
The O.MG cable can log keystrokes when placed between a keyboard and a computer.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“We added USB key-logging a while back”
O.MG cable USES geofencing
The O.MG cable supports geofencing and can trigger actions based on detected wireless networks.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“It can also do some autonomous things like geofencing and triggering things automatically based on wireless networks”
O.MG cable USES remote shell
The HIDX StealthLink feature can provide a remote shell on a target through a raw data link that appears as a keyboard to the host.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“you can have a remote shell running on the target that’s on a completely air-gapped machine”
O.MG cable USES air-gapped computer access
MG describes using the O.MG cable to gain access to an air-gapped evidence computer.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“Of course, the goal was get — to gain access to that evidence computer which was air-gapped”
O.MG cable USES persistence via physically attached hardware
In the red-team exercise, the physically attached cable served as persistence despite malware and operating-system cleanup controls.
Explicit Confidence 99% · MG EP 161 Details
“But since they had a cable attached physically at all times, that was the persistence”
Russian GRU USES Wi-Fi Pineapple
MG, recounting a Hak5 example, says Russian GRU personnel used a Wi-Fi Pineapple during an operation in Brussels; the account is attributed to Hak5's example.
Attributed Confidence 95% · MG EP 161 Details
“Hak5 actually had a semi-recent example that is super applicable here with their Wi-Fi Pineapple and the Russian GRU”
“the Wi-Fi Pineapple was being used in the trunk of a car”
Works mentioned in the transcript. Distinct from show-note sources.
Model gpt-5.6-luna · prompt 1.5.19 · schema 1.5.19 · 2026-09-13T08:43:02.061050+00:00