An approach to hacking consumer electronics

Presented at CHCon '20 (2020), Oct. 30, 2020, 4:15 p.m. (Unknown duration).

Ben has recently been looking at an early generation DJ controller (the USB control interface type), with the goal of modifying the USB controller firmware. This took him down a path of working on an approach for hacking hardware devices that aren't common targets. He will discuss his approach of demystifying complex datasheets, and using straightforward techniques for hands-on hacking.

The DJ controller retrieves program code over I²C from a serial EEPROM. The use of I²C serial to transfer data between micro-controllers is a common configuration for consumer electronics.

Presenters:

• Ben Knight
  Ben is a Senior Security Consultant at Insomnia Security. He enjoys pulling consumer electronics to bits, and thinking of simple solutions to finding security vulnerabilities at a hardware level. He's known for finding command injection vulnerabilities in consumer home routers, loading more game ROMs onto the PlayStation Classic, and organising hardware hacking meetups in Wellington.

Links:

• https://2020.chcon.nz/talks/ben_k

Similar Presentations:

• BSidesLV 2015 / Serial Box - Primer for dealing with Serial and JTAG for basic hardware hacking
• ToorCamp 2018 / DJ Zach Archer
• Still Hacking Anyway (SHA2017) / dj-spock