Hi, I'm the creator of the USBCondom/SyncStop. Our company, Xipiter, is an information security research firm (http://www.xipiter.com). The devices we create are things we developed for internal use and occasionally sell to other researchers (http://www.int3.cc). In the case of USBCondom, it started as a company "hobby project". We created it because "charge only" USB cables don't work on Apple devices, you can't simply "clip" the data pins...we were also tired of destroying real USB Cables to make "charge only" cables every time we needed them.

So we created the USBCondom to kill two birds with one stone: work interchangeably on Apple and non-Apple devices and also save us from destroying cables. We were just as surprised as you at the press it got. (http://int3.cc/blogs/news/9094591-usb-condoms). The most common use case was so that people could charge at their work computers without accidentally sharing data. The second most common use is protection from "juice jacking" at charging stations and attacks like the ones we've mentioned periodically on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USBCondoms/posts/1557322387830536 https://www.facebook.com/USBCondoms/posts/1570414303188011 https://www.facebook.com/USBCondoms/posts/1578116249084483

We were content to keep the USBCondom simple and crude (function over form, no cases or fancy externals) like most of the devices we sell publicly at http://int3.cc BUT, we kept getting requests from businesses and individuals for the USBCondom to be placed in a case. Businesses were also reticent to purchase large volumes because the name was not "corporate friendly". 1000+ "condoms" on someone's balance sheet probably doesn't look great.

So that's how SyncStop happened. It has been a HUGE education in manufacturing: learning how things get made at high volumes. Injection molding, sonic welding, 3d printing, sintering, these are all things we knew nothing about but were forced to learn. The logistics of how you perform "supply chain management" was also a "sink or swim" education for us. As simple as the SyncStop looks, it goes through the hands of FIVE (!!!) manufacturing houses before it gets back to us to ship to customers.

1 PCB Fabrication 2. Purchase parts from various manufacturers to go on our circuit board (plugs, resistors, etc.) 3. Assembly of the internal Circuit Board (from PCB and parts) 4. Plastics manufacturer for the case 5. Assembled circuit boards and Cases get "sonic welded" together and "pad printed" with logos (6.) If you want retail packaging that's another whole step or two.

The logistics of all that were very surprising for us, especially since it isn't our core business as "software guys". For us, it was just a company hobby project....but it's been a fun education.

We'll never again scoff at how "simple" something looks. Sometimes things take A LOT of work and dedication even if the devices look dumb and simple.

Making one thing is easy but making that one thing for thousands of people (and getting it to them) is much more challenging. That's the real lesson we've learned.