It is like an electronic Swiss army knife or Dr Who's sonic screwdriver.
Yet in the wrong hands, this tiny device has a very shady range of capabilities and if you are stopped by police with one, then better have a good explanation ready.
When one of these pocket-sized devices was seized by ACT police with a hoard of stolen property this week, it was clear that Canberra's burglars were already using this hacking tool to telling criminal effect.
The device looks a little like an innocent Tamagotchi toy, is a little bigger than a common car key fob and fits easily in your pocket.
Wireless radio signals are used by all us, every day, for convenience. But what we don't know is whether someone is capturing that signal and storing it for later.
The seized device contains what is known as a one sub-1 GHz radio module and antenna and CC1101 transceiver, and clones a signal at a simple push of a button.
Manufacturers of the device are fighting an online rearguard action against the controversy after Amazon has banned its sale, and the Canadian government is considering making them illegal.
When an ACT general duties patrol recognised the driver of a car trundling through the streets of Higgins this week, included in the seized drugs, cash and suspected stolen property from the car was one of these little devices, which can be bought online for as little as $300.
Benjamin John Hedges, 35, from Florey, was on a good behaviour order and bail for drug-related offences at the time of his latest alleged crimes. He was charged with trafficking a controlled drug other than cannabis, drug possession, going equipped for theft, and driving while suspended.
He is yet to enter pleas.
The problem for police is that owning one of these devices is completely legal even though it can be used for highly illegal purposes.
It is essentially a portable multi-tool for hackers and provided it is within range, can clone any wireless signal. Professionals use it for what's known as penetration testing, to expose any vulnerabilities in a security system.
But it can also potentially unlock your car, activate your garage door, scan and copy any swipe cards, steal some card information - but not all - and crash phones with Bluetooth spamming.
Watch just one of these devices in action and you will never trust the security of a hotel room swipe card again and many commercial buildings thought to be secure behind swipe card access are now highly exposed.
Signal-cloning repeater devices have been around and used by professional thieves for years. Car makers have raced to thwart thieves by replacing fixed entry codes with rolling codes and encryption on their later models. Generally, the fix to prevent starting the car has worked, but protecting the security from a clone is much more difficult.
One common use by thieves is to use the device to clone a garage door signal emitted as a home owner enters or leaves. The burglar only has to be within range to capture the signal, then reproduce it once the home owner has left for the day.
Despite the Hedges arrest and device seizure, police are attempting to quell public concern. They say they are aware of these devices and is "monitoring their potential uses and presence in the territory" but "no confirmed cases of home burglaries or thefts using the devices have been reported".
"It is important to note that many garage doors have safety release mechanisms that do not require the remote control to be activated so it is difficult to confirm if devices such as these are being used to commit offences," they said in a statement.
"These devices are legal to own in the ACT, however police will question a person who has one if there is no justification for it to be in their possession," police said.
