DoS: Denial of Shopping - Analyzing and Exploiting (Physical) Shopping Cart Immobilization Systems

Presented at DEF CON 29 (2021), Aug. 8, 2021, noon (20 minutes)

Many supermarkets and shopping centers have implemented devices that "lock" their shopping carts if they're taken outside of an approved boundary (e.g, a parking lot). This talk examines some of the technology that's used to do this, as well as ways to capture and spoof the control signals to defeat these devices. We will go over the anatomy of remotely lockable shopping cart wheels, their basic theory, and get into how they're controlled. We'll deconstruct some samples of the lock and unlock signals captured using a homemade antenna and a HackRF, and briefly discuss methods of rebroadcasting them - as well as the challenges inherent to this process. DISCLAIMER This talk is the result of a personal project. Any views, opinions, or research presented in this talk are personal and belong solely to the presenter. They do not represent or reflect those of any person, institution, or organization that the presenter may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity unless explicitly stated otherwise. REFERENCES - The ARRL handbook for radio communications, 2007. Newington, CT: American Radio Relay League, 2006. Print. - https://www.tmplab.org/2008/06/18/consumer-b-gone/ - http://www.woodmann.com/fravia/nola_wheel.htm -The wonderful people over at /r/rfelectronics -FCC.gov

Presenters:

  • Joseph Gabay - Hacker
    Joseph is a robotics engineer in Boston, Massachusetts where he works on a variety of projects ranging from electromechanical designs to embedded systems. His passion lies in further understanding the way the world works and uncovering the small secrets that we encounter in our day to day lives. This project started as an idle curiosity and grew into an opportunity to further explore the complex and deep world of RF communications and embedded systems. Joseph is an avid part of the local maker community, with extensive experience in 3D printing, rapid-fabricobbling, and breaking stuff for fun and profit. Outside of his day job, he enjoys woodworking and metalworking and is constantly collecting new hobbies and interests.

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