Cybergibbon has been working on reversing the digital protocol used by a wireless alarm system he recently acquired. He began by observing the alarm sensor’s signal using first an RF Explorer, then using RTL-SDR and SDR# to record the signal, which he analyzed with Audacity. Next, he cracked open the sensor itself to investigate the […]
Category Archives: reversed
Free PDF of “Hacking the Xbox” in honor of Aaron Swartz
Our friend Andrew “bunnie” Huang along with No Starch Press have decided to release a free ebook version of Hacking the Xbox in honor of Aaron Swartz. Bunnie writes, “As you read my book, I hope that you’ll be reminded of how important freedom is to the hacking community and that you’ll be inclined to […]
HexBugs dissected and modded
HexBugs are a product of Innovation Labs First, Inc. which retail for about $11 pretty much everywhere electronic gadgets are sold. They are a tiny robotic crawling device with a minimal ability to sense sound and proximity and react in a simplistic preprogrammed manner to avoid obstructions. As purchased, they have no provision for modding […]
Blackhat video: deconstructing a secure processor
This video of Chris Tarnovsky’s 2010 Blackhat Conference was recently posted. Chris is with Flylogic Engineering, LLC, which conducts security analyses of semiconductors. He describes the presentation, “From start to finish, we will walk through how a current generation smartcard was successfully compromised. The talk will discuss everything that was required in the order the […]
29C3: Hacking CISCO phones
At the recent 29C3 hacker conference in Hamburg, Germany, speakers Ang Cui and Michael Costello drew attention to kernel vulnerabilities in CNU (Cisco Native Unix), the operating system that powers all Cisco TNP IP phones.
OWASP AppSecUSA 2012: reverse engineering .NET applications
Last October the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) AppSecUSA 2012 conference was held in Austin, Texas. In this conference video Jon McCoy presents the practical information on reverse engineering .NET Framework Desktop Software. The presentation goes beyond basics to illustrate modification of security areas of apps. The speech is intended to give a security […]
DEFCON 20: Hacking [Redacted] Routers
At last summer’s DEFCON 20 conference, speakers FX and Greg gave this presentation on exploring Huawei routers. These devices are growing in market share in many countries, even used by tier one ISPs. They explore the device’s software platform and security, highlighting the architecture, configurations and services available as well as summarizing their efforts in […]
SkyDogCon 2012 : Cryptanalysis of the enigma
At the recent SkyDogCon conference, Bob Weiss and Benjamin Gatti presented this talk analyzing Enigma, the World War II era Nazi encryption machine. The encryption theory behind Enigma is covered, including a detailed under-the-hood view of a typical device. Finally, a demo is conducted using a laptop in an effort to crack an Enigma message. […]
Video: Android app insecurity and reversing
In this just released video from the Open Web App Security Project (OWASP) AppSecUSA 2011 conference held in Minneapolis, MN, Mike Park discusses the insecurity of Android “.apk” apps and covers the ease with which Android Apps can be reversed, the ability to store sensitive data locally, and how these apps can be trojaned to […]
Reverse engineered layout of tiny TL-WR703N router
Squonk informs us that he’s reverse engineered the layout of the small TP-Link TL-WR703N 802.11n WiFi router using EagleCad. He writes: “Unlike what it is marketed for, the TP-LINK TL-WR703N is not a “3G travel router”: it does not include a 3G modem at all, it simply means that the firmware support external USB 3G […]
Hacking USB webkeys with Bus Pirate
Brad Antoniewicz has been exploring USB webkeys, the dongle devices used as marketing tools which guide Windows users to a seller’s webpage when plugged into the USB port. Essentially, webkeys function as a USB HID, emulate a keyboard and send commands stored in EEPROM to the host PC. Brad explored his webkey’s EEPROM using the […]
Reverse-engineering pocket router hardware
Squonk informs us that he’s experienced success in reverse-engineering the PCB and pinout of the Atheros AR9331 main SoC used in the popular TL-WR703N/TL-MR3020 pocket routers. You can read Squonk’s project write up on the OpenWRT website. Via the contact form.
Reverse engineering a home security system
Ken from OverEngineered writes us about his recent efforts in reverse engineering, I recently reverse-engineered the security system installed in my house and re-implemented the control board for it using a JeeNode (arduino-compatible with on-board RFM12 radio). Turn your whole house around with custom home renovation toronto. I created a post about the reverse-engineering here. […]
Atmel AT90SC3232CS smartcard destruction
Flylogic is known for their skills in reverse engineering chips. They were familiar with Atmel smartcards AT90SC3232 and AT90SC3232C and assumed that the AT90SC3232CS was similar but with an extra IO pad. They discovered the AT90SC3232CS is a completely new design based on the larger AT90SC6464C device, Get all the fascinating details on the exploration […]
Hacking the FPGA bitstream
Squok writes referring us to several documents he’s found regarding hacking the bitstream in secure FPGAs: In order to protect the intellectual property and to prevent fraud, e.g., by cloning an FPGA or manipulating its content, many current FPGAs employ a bitstream encryption feature, which is advertised by manufacturers as “making it virtually impossible for […]
Oscilloscope USB connection reversed
András Veres-Szentkirályi is part of the H.A.C.K. hackerspace in Hungary. They acquired an affordable, slightly used UNI-T UT2025B digital storage oscilloscope. He wondered what useful information could be gained from sniffing the USB port using Wireshark on a Linux box. Andras writes: I managed to reverse engineer the USB connection of the Chinese digital storage […]
Facepunch Reverse Engineering Challenge #1
Facepunch is conducting a software reverse engineering contest! “The FPREC is a week long challenge where you are provided with an executable to reverse engineer. There will be a goal, such as “access this website”, or “decrypt this file”. Hopefully, there’ll be rewards. To participate, go to the Facepunch website forum and follow the instructions […]
Reprogramming USB Webkey dongle using Bus Pirate
JJShortcut took one of the webkey USB devices his school was discarding and decided to reverse engineer it. The device plugs into the USB port on a PC and when its on-board button is pushed it opens the computer’s web browser, directing the user to a specific URL. He found that the heart of the […]
Deconstructing a retail anti theft sensor device
In this short video, Jeri and company answer the age old question: what’s inside one of those anti-theft sensor alarm devices used by the big box stores? You could call this destructive reverse engineering, or literal brute forcing. It looks like the alarm is triggered by the cutting of the attached bands surrounding the package. […]
28C3: Reverse engineering USB devices
In this talk from the recent 28C3 conference in Berlin, Drew Fisher discusses the process of reverse engineering the Kinect audio protocol. He shows how the USB standard can help a reverse engineer out and proceeds to analyze a set of USB logs, finding patterns, building understanding, developing hypotheses of message structure, and eventually implementing […]