About Hacker Planet LLC
Hacker Planet LLC is a Philadelphia security practice - open-source edge tools, field hardware, and audit-ready telemetry for homelabs, MSPs, and builders who refuse to choose between serious defense and a desk worth showing off.
I am Andy Kowal (Salvador Data) - founder of Hacker Planet LLC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I built this practice to close a gap I kept seeing in the field: SOCs drowning in dashboards, executives glazing over Grafana, and homelabbers wondering if their sensor was even alive. I ship defensive tools people actually watch - with evidence auditors can trust.
I lead product, firmware, Philadelphia field assembly, partner fulfillment coordination, and open-source releases on GitHub salvador-Data. Hardware ships from Philly or through vetted partner makers (never anonymous reseller fulfillment). Every tool I publish is for authorized defense - networks and systems the operator owns or is explicitly permitted to test.
Certifications and professional history are on LinkedIn. I ship core projects under MIT. Rule packs, STLs, and export formats live on GitHub - not a black-box appliance.
Flagship builds
My edge IPS in a Tamagotchi shell - the CypherTek Rache enclosure houses a Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini running signatures, YARA, ClamAV, and IPS blocks. On e-ink, Cipherhorn (unicorn CISO) reacts to live threat pressure while SQLite logs and a tamper-evident audit chain satisfy auditors.
Pocket lab assistant on Jetson Nano - authorized Wi-Fi research, handshake capture, heuristic wordlists, and GPU hashcat cracking. Stays in the lab VLAN while CypherTek Rache guards the edge. Separate GitHub project, same defensive philosophy.
Lab companions (Bjorn, M5 Cardputer) and curated partner hardware catalog ? Ecosystem map
Principles
I build only for authorized defense - networks operators own or are explicitly permitted to test.
Core projects are MIT. Rule packs, STLs, and exports ship on GitHub.
Threat logs, CSV export, executive JSON, and tamper-evident audit chains.
If nobody watches the panel, there is no visibility. Cipherhorn's mood is a KPI.
Firmware
Keyboard maps, GPIO wiring, and M5 OS packaging: Cardputer firmware guide
I monetize Hacker Planet LLC through hardware kits (Kickstarter early-bird tiers / direct from Philadelphia), Pro threat-feed subscriptions (Stripe-ready API in CyberThreatGotchi v1.1+), and MSP install retainers. See our CISO playbook for the 90-day plan.
Andy Kowal (Salvador Data) - Founder | Philadelphia, PA | salvadorData@proton.me | (215) 839-8738 | GitHub salvador-Data | LinkedIn | product, firmware, field builds, open-source releases.
Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA | Contact me ->