Reverse Engineering a Portable USB Firewall Appliance and Its Hardware Improved Recreation

Presented at The Circle Of HOPE (2018), July 22, 2018, 5 p.m. (60 minutes).

In this talk, penetration/reverse engineering techniques of both hardware and software will be demonstrated by breaking into a portable "secure" Linux-based firewall device's firmware, which will then be recreated and improved with a Linux single board computer. The original device provides anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, intrusion detection and prevention, VPN client and website filtering, and parental control - and it all runs on a computer the size of a pack of gum. Dernyn will provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to gain full access to the inner workings of this discrete dedicated Linux-based ARM mini-computer firewall appliance. There will be a full analysis of its inner workings, with a dissection of the electronics and implemented system and software infrastructure, networking/firewall policies, and an overall security level analysis focusing on the lack of protection/security which the manufacturer claimed as Pentagon level protection.


Presenters:

  • Dernyn
    **Dernyn** (@D_e_r_n_y_n) has been part of the hacker subculture, community, and NYC2600 since 2000. He is a software engineer who works with computer networks and security by trade, and has been tinkering with computer technology and electronics by taking it apart for the last 18 years.

Links:

Similar Presentations: