London-based studio Blond takes on a sharp yet cute approach to home internet security with a device inspired by prickly hedgehogs.

According to research done by U.K. cybersecurity hardware and software company Zobi, 30% of all smart home devices are hacked, with 1.8 billion passwords readily available over the dark web. It’s all sobering statistics noting a great deal of our lives are now spent and shared online. With online privacy becoming a growing issue with the proliferation of vulnerable smart home devices, it makes sense an entire new category of devices have emerged to protect and notify when private information falls under threat. London-based design studio Blond’s smart home device Hedgehog is designed to autonomously defend against cyber-attacks on your WiFi while looking as cute as its namesake.
Paired with Zobi Home Intelligence, an artificial intelligence enhanced cloud-based analysis, the Hedgehog takes direct inspiration from the diminutive woodland creature known to protect itself from larger threats with its prickly quills. In lieu of giving their home network security spikes, Blond has designed the small device with a deeply ridged surface in subtle references to the creature’s spikes, both as an aesthetic feature, but also functionally to provide the device with ventilation and conceal a hidden aperture for the device?s lighting.

When an online attack is registered, the Hedgehog?s LED light ring flashes red, a function that ...