Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

[sugardaddy]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

It was not so much a request but an offer. I apologize for the half hearted reply as I was responding to the thread update on a nokia tablet while at a party.

I was thinking of something where the uC would gather data from sensors and then show how to interface it back to another device such as a hacked router with a serial port mod. I would be willing to help work on teaching a session on that. This combined with a session on servos would give those the basics necessary to build something...like say a robot for that challenge next year? I don't know, maybe that's too ambitious. I was just thinking that maybe offering a session on a more advanced topic for those who know already know basic circuit theory would attract some more advanced users to hang out in the villiage...maybe even help out? Just an idea...let me know what you think.

Do you mean something like a linksys box? So if we used a wireless router then I assume we could put that box/bot/uC on the network too? That would be cool. Would there be any after session hands on options to try it out?

[sugardaddy]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Is anyone interested in a Servos 101?

By the way, Russ, A, and I appreciate the enthusiasm on this venture.

Go team venture.

LosT

I'd be interested in a session on servos. I don't get enough time to spend on any robotics stuff these days so I'm up for pretty much anything you hold (servos, sensors, mind control interface, etc.).

Will there be any sessions related to the HHV kits you're developing?

SD

[afterburn188]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

It was not so much a request but an offer. I apologize for the half hearted reply as I was responding to the thread update on a nokia tablet while at a party.

I was thinking of something where the uC would gather data from sensors and then show how to interface it back to another device such as a hacked router with a serial port mod. I would be willing to help work on teaching a session on that. This combined with a session on servos would give those the basics necessary to build something...like say a robot for that challenge next year? I don't know, maybe that's too ambitious. I was just thinking that maybe offering a session on a more advanced topic for those who know already know basic circuit theory would attract some more advanced users to hang out in the villiage...maybe even help out? Just an idea...let me know what you think.

So is that a request? We can only do so many sessions, especially since all of us are involved with multiple areas of Defcon (such as Mystery Challenge)-

Sensors covers quite a bit of ground- since our goal is to help the n00bs get more into hardware I would be willing to do things on IR emitter/detectors, infrared, ultrasonic, LEDs as sensors (photoelectric effect), or similar.

"Interface with router" - I assume you mean web enabling embedded systems? TCP/IP, UDP etc? You need to be more specific-

1057

[Voltage Spike]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Is anyone interested in a Servos 101?

I believe this is an excellent suggestion. Sensors (as requested above), analog input, displays ... they are all kind of the same thing (and, in my opinion, very similar to working purely in software). Servos, though? My experience with macroscopic motion is essentially limited to throwing a lot of voltage at a motor through controlled relay bursts.

[LosT]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

So is that a request? We can only do so many sessions, especially since all of us are involved with multiple areas of Defcon (such as Mystery Challenge)-

Sensors covers quite a bit of ground- since our goal is to help the n00bs get more into hardware I would be willing to do things on IR emitter/detectors, infrared, ultrasonic, LEDs as sensors (photoelectric effect), or similar.

"Interface with router" - I assume you mean web enabling embedded systems? TCP/IP, UDP etc? You need to be more specific-

1057

what about sensors with uC? Interface with router?

[afterburn188]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

what about sensors with uC? Interface with router?

[LosT]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Is anyone interested in a Servos 101?

By the way, Russ, A, and I appreciate the enthusiasm on this venture.

Go team venture.

LosT

[ducksauz]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Russ:

Count me in for helping out in the HHV. I just dropped an email on you as well, so both bases should be covered. I'd be glad to hold a soldering workshop to get people going with that.

/ducksauz

[A]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

And no device is complete without some rs232 ports: http://www.rwhitby.net/projects/wrt54gs

Additional HW?

I have 4 Linksys WRT54G boxes (3 S's and 1 L) I could also bring. I bought them to play with the alternate firmware but haven't had time yet. I recall someone on the list talking about demonstrating a hack against those (either in HW or for WiFi). Would that help anyone's presentation or potential demonstration?

SD

[afterburn188]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

The more the merrier! If anything, you can at least get some alternative firmware on those guys and see what other hardware modifications you can make to them. And if you absolutely want, I will be glad to compromise your routers for you if you so desire!

Additional HW?
I recall someone on the list talking about demonstrating a hack against those (either in HW or for WiFi). Would that help anyone's presentation or potential demonstration?
SD

[sugardaddy]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Additional HW?

I have 4 Linksys WRT54G boxes (3 S's and 1 L) I could also bring. I bought them to play with the alternate firmware but haven't had time yet. I recall someone on the list talking about demonstrating a hack against those (either in HW or for WiFi). Would that help anyone's presentation or potential demonstration?

SD

[sugardaddy]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

Ok, I think I've seen two volunteers on this list, so far, that are willing to help out. If you've mentioned that you're interested and have NOT email me, please do that. It will make it so much simpler. So, volunteers... email me.... russ (at) defcon (dot) org or vertigo (at) securitytribe (dot) com.

LosT and I are footing the bill on this venture and, based on the current cost, we're probably only going to buy 100 of these kits to sell in the HHV. I haven't gotten any feedback that would make me think we need more and I honestly (as much as I LOVE extra hardware) don't want another 100 of these kits sitting around in my workspace. haha

As for presentation topics, here's a short list I'd like to see. If any of you want to volunteer to give a presentation, post it here or email me. It would be really cool to have a base schedule set up prior to con so all we have to do is fill in the blanks.

- Badge Hacking Basics (Friday afternoon sometime)
- Making the DC16 Badge (Sat... redo from Friday's talk)
- The Kingpin is In (Q&A with Joe Grand) (Sat afternoon sometime)
- Building a BS2 microcontroller
- Basic Electronics
- Understanding Electronics tools (think oscilloscope, multimeter, etc)
- Soldering Basics
- Programming the BS2

As for the actual makeup of the HHV, I'm beginning to think people should bring their own Serial to USB adapters, soldering irons, etc. I know some of the volunteers have mentioned bringing stuff in and potentially being interested in presenting or helping out. Please let me know what your interest level and areas are so we can start planning.

Thanks!
-Russ

Howdy Russ.

I dropped you an email yesterday stating I wanted to volunteer. My forum account just got fixed so I'm posting here as well.

What about set up, tear down, etc.? I'm available as early as Thursday afternoon and not flying out until Monday morning.

Thanks.

SD

[afterburn188]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

The website doesn't come up when I click on the link.

whoops....forgot the www in front...here is the new link.

I emailed you a while ago but I will send you another email and CC our group's lead.

[russ]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

The website doesn't come up when I click on the link. The presentations you have in mind sound great! I'm glad this is all coming together. You're absolutely correct about our target audience. When we started the robot contest a few years ago, we really thought it would take off. What we discovered was that 1) Alot of hackers are intimidated or feel ignorant of the hardware side of things and 2) In order to have a contest like this, it has to be evolve and be dynamic. We also need an "entry vector" for those that may be interested but don't want to look silly. That's my goal with the HHV... we ARE that entry vector.

Thanks for your help. Email me if you haven't already.

We (CVORG) would like to volunteer to do a presentation or two on hardware trojans and the concepts/tools of reverse engineering.

[afterburn188]

Re: Interest in Hardware Hacking Village

We (CVORG) would like to volunteer to do a presentation or two on hardware trojans and the concepts/tools of reverse engineering. Our presentation can range from being a basic overview to being slightly more detailed. We will also be bringing some big toys (think o-scopes and signal generators) that we would be willing to contribute to the tools presentation. I agree with the idea of having a base schedule since there are many different events we are participating at con. The sooner we can get that outlined, the better.

Another note: The goal of this seems to be to attract people into hardware, and hardware hacking. I personally have been recently giving talks to perspective freshman/high school seniors at our university, attempting to attract them to become an Electrical Engineer. What we've found what works best is short talks, a few demos, and a huge Q&A portion. This allows for you to have a mixed/diverse group of people with different levels of knowledge (Parents, Students, Parents with a EE background) become more informed. I feel if Q&A approaches are stressed a lot more people can be attracted. Also mentioning what kind of hardware hacks have been done that they may already be benefiting from (the hacking of the Linksys WRT54G, the hacking of the XBox via the JTAG interface) will possibly attract some more attention. Just some thoughts to throw around for comment...

As for presentation topics, here's a short list I'd like to see. If any of you want to volunteer to give a presentation, post it here or email me. It would be really cool to have a base schedule set up prior to con so all we have to do is fill in the blanks.