Authorised cable-awareness labs with zSecurity Venom (ATtiny85) and Venom PRO — LKR prices, isolation tips, and ALFA Network LK KYC buying notes.
Product photo: zSecurity
The charging cable that teaches USB trust
Helpdesk tickets rarely say “please audit my USB-C leads.” They say the laptop felt slow, or a password manager emptied itself, or someone “just plugged in to charge.” Cable-shaped BadUSB tools exist to make that story tangible in a written lab — not to decorate a backpack for weekend mischief.
ALFA Network LK now catalogues zSecurity ZS Venom and ZS Venom PRO with local LKR prices:
- zSecurity ZS Venom — LKR 33,500 (ATtiny85-class HID cable)
- zSecurity ZS Venom PRO — LKR 43,500 (Wi-Fi–managed PRO cable workflows per vendor)
For example: a facilities briefing that needs a prop
For example, a facilities lead in Colombo 03 wants a thirty-minute awareness session for reception staff who loan chargers to visitors. The SOW is awareness only: one lab laptop, one disposable account, one approved notepad payload, cameras off. A Venom cable that looks ordinary is the prop. The lesson is reporting and port control — not “how to steal inboxes.”
Imagine this: after the demo, staff practice refusing unknown cables and offering a wall charger with a data blocker instead. The hardware made the policy memorable.
Venom vs Venom PRO without the brochure fog
ZS Venom (standard)
zSecurity documents a 16.5 MHz 8-bit ATtiny85 with 8 KB program space inside a USB-C charging-cable shell. Payloads follow a Digispark-style upload path many instructors already know from hobby HID kits. It is the calm on-ramp: offline, inspectable, teachable. Students can see the toolchain, fail a compile, fix it, and learn that “cable magic” is still software discipline.
ZS Venom PRO
The PRO listing emphasises Wi-Fi web control, ready payloads, honeypot helpers, and remote HID behaviour similar in spirit to the Cactus PRO family. Use it when the syllabus needs an operator on a tablet — still on an isolated SSID. Do not enable honeypot-style helpers on a shared office floor “to see what happens.”
Silicon caveat on PRO pages
As with Cactus PRO, the public Venom PRO page currently shows an unrelated AWUS036ACH table. ALFA marks PRO MCU/radio details as unknown on our cards. The standard Venom’s ATtiny85 claim is the one we treat as vendor-stated for the non-PRO cable.
Where Venom sits next to Hak5 and Cactus
| Shape | zSecurity | Hak5-adjacent |
|---|---|---|
| Cable | Venom / Venom PRO | O.MG Cable class tools |
| Dongle | Cactus / Cactus PRO | Rubber Ducky (offline HID) |
| Keyboard line | — | Key Croc |
Pick the social-engineering story first, then the SKU. A cable story hits harder for facilities teams. A dongle story hits harder for “someone left a free USB stick” modules.
Authorised lab choreography
- Label both ends of every demo cable with heatshrink colours.
- Keep a “clean” charging cable in the same kit so staff can feel the difference without guessing.
- Ban production Mail / banking accounts on the demo laptop.
- If honeypot Wi-Fi features are enabled on PRO, keep them inside a sealed lab VLAN — never the guest lounge.
- Collect cables with a signed loan sheet; these objects disappear into the same pocket as real chargers.
- Photograph the desk before and after so nobody argues about what was plugged where.
Teaching the defence half without softening the point
Offence-only demos create swagger. Balance the hour:
- Show a USB Data Blocker as a travel control.
- Discuss USB device control policies on Windows and macOS at a high level.
- Practice the human script: “I don’t accept unknown cables; please use the wall charger.”
Kit ideas
- Venom + data blocker for a defence-and-offence pair.
- Venom PRO + Cactus PRO in the Silent Intrusion Kit PRO when a programme wants both shapes — see the kits guide.
- Pair with ALFA AWUS adapters only when wireless homework is in the same week.
Payload hygiene for ATtiny85-class cables
Eight kilobytes is not a playground for sprawling frameworks. Keep payloads short, readable, and peer-reviewed. Store them in a private repo with CODEOWNERS. Reject payloads that exfiltrate to random free hosts. For PRO ready-payload packs, treat vendor demos as starting points to rewrite for your lab accounts.
FAQ
Is Venom “undetectable”?
Vendor marketing language is not a detection guarantee. Teach logging, USB device control policies, and human reporting.
Can we deploy this on a client floor tomorrow?
Only with written authorisation that names the method. Awareness theatre without consent is still a problem.
Why is the LKR price higher than a hobby Digispark cable?
You are buying a finished cable SKU through a KYC shop with local support and VAT-inclusive pricing — not a bare MCU from a marketplace listing.
Venom or Cactus first?
If your audience thinks in chargers, start Venom. If your audience thinks in “free USB sticks,” start Cactus.
A week-long syllabus sketch (authorized only)
Day 1 — Trust surface. Students inventory every cable on a lab desk, including power-only leads. They write one paragraph on why visual inspection fails.
Day 2 — Toolchain. Upload a hello-world HID payload to Venom. Fail once on purpose (wrong board selected) and document the fix.
Day 3 — Operator contrast. If Venom PRO is available, repeat a benign payload with the web UI on an isolated SSID. Compare time-to-demo and failure modes.
Day 4 — Controls. Introduce data blockers, port blockers, and a sample endpoint policy screenshot from a lab image.
Day 5 — Report. Each pair submits a two-page note: method, authorisation reference, evidence retained, evidence wiped, residual risk.
That structure keeps swagger out of the room and leaves a paper trail your programme can defend.
Procurement notes for Sri Lanka teams
ALFA Network LK lists Venom lines in LKR, VAT inclusive. We keep stock quantity placeholders conservative until Ops finishes counts. If you need classroom multiples, WhatsApp us with cohort size and dates — do not assume same-day dispatch.
Buyers complete ID verification and a signed authorised-use declaration. That is not bureaucracy for its own sake; it is how a founder-led shop stays on the right side of “tools with dual-use shapes.”
Common mistakes we see (and how to avoid them)
- Mixing clean and implant cables in one pouch without colour codes.
- Demoing on a personal laptop that still has production browser profiles.
- Leaving PRO honeypot helpers enabled after class.
- Publishing unblurred screen recordings of the web UI with lab SSIDs visible that match real office names.
- Skipping the wipe step on PRO devices between cohorts.
Maintenance and loaner life
Inspect strain relief monthly. Retire cables with cracked shells — they teach the wrong lesson about “inconspicuous.” Store PRO units powered down in labelled Faraday pouches if your programme uses them. Keep a printed payload allowlist taped inside the lid of the kit box so substitutes do not improvise.
Legal and ethical use
These tools belong in authorised assessments, lab practice, and training — not casual tinkering on networks or devices that are not yours.
In Sri Lanka, unauthorised access to computer systems can engage the Computer Crimes Act No. 24 of 2007. This post is practical product guidance, not legal advice. If you are unsure whether a test is allowed, get written permission first and talk to counsel who knows local law.
Only use this gear on systems you own, or on systems where a named client has given you written authorisation that covers the methods you plan to run.
Ordering from ALFA Network LK
zSecurity ZS Venom: LKR 33,500 · zSecurity ZS Venom PRO: LKR 43,500 (VAT inclusive).
Order on alfanetworklk.com/products or WhatsApp ALFA Network LK at +94 75 255 0704. Payment options: cash on delivery, KokoPay, or bank deposit. Before dispatch we ask for ID verification and a signed authorised-use declaration.
Questions: info@alfanetworklk.com.
ALFA Network LK is a founder-led shop. We do not promise fixed response times, and we do not claim TRCSL “approval” for offensive-security tools — KYC and authorised-use paperwork are how we keep sales professional.
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