The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using a robot dog to jam networks and devices amid police raids.

The four-legged robot dog called NEO, built by the robotics company Ghost Robotics, is based on the quadruped unmanned ground vehicle (Q-UGV) platform and is equipped with an antenna array that is capable of jamming wireless networks.

Source: Ghost Robotics

The robot was reportedly developed in response to DHS’ concern that criminals are capable of setting so-called “booby-traps” for law enforcement using internet of things (IoT) and smart home devices. As such, NEO, which is a modified version of Ghost Robotics Vision 60 Q-UGV, was developed so that the DHS can remotely disrupt the home networks of a residence or other structure law enforcement is attempting to raid.

“NEO can enter a potentially dangerous environment to provide video and audio feedback to the officers before entry and allow them to communicate with those in that environment. NEO carries an onboard computer and antenna array that allows officers the ability to create a ‘denial-of-service’ (DoS) event to disable ‘Internet of things’ devices that could potentially cause harm while entry is made,” the developers explained.

By creating a DoS attack — which is a type of cyber-attack wherein a malicious actor seeks to disable the normal functioning of a computer or other smart device by flooding that computer or device with requests until normal traffic is unable to be processed — the DHS suggests that NEO promises to ensure the safety of law enforcement personnel.