1. InfoconDB
  2. THOTCON
  3. THOTCON 0x4 (2013)
  4. Mesh Stalkings

Mesh Stalkings

Presented at THOTCON 0x4 (2013), April 26, 2013, 4 p.m. (50 minutes)

This presentation will show attendees how to use The Deck, an Ubuntu-based full-on penetration testing and forensics distro which runs on the BeagleBoard and BeagleBone family of boards, in a connected mesh network. The Deck is an open source system which debuted in London in September 2012. It contains hundreds of tools which have been ported to the ARM platform. Having a full system (complete with X Windows) in a small low-power package allows for great flexibility in penetration testing. The Deck can be run for days to weeks off of battery power. An entire penetration testing platform can be housed in a small child's lunchbox. This presentation will focus on the MeshDeck addon to The Deck. The MeshDeck adds ZigBee networking capabilities to The Deck. The addition of the MeshDeck adds considerable power and flexibility to an already powerful system. For example, a few BeagleBone versions of The Deck can be outfitted with ZigBee radios and then dropped at a customer site where they can run off battery power for an entire pentesting engagement while sending information on which networks/passwords/etc. they have cracked back to the pentester who is sitting in his car a mile away running TheDeck on his BeagleBoard complete with 7" touchscreen. This entire setup can bit fit into two lunchboxes. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of what is possible with small, low-powered devices. Attendees will also get an idea of what is required in order to port a Linux distro and/or applications to a new platform. An overview of ZigBee mesh networks will be presented. To get the most out of this presentation attendees should be familiar with penetration testing, and Linux. Experience programming in C would also be helpful, but not required.


Presenters:

  • Dr. Philip Polstra   as Philip Polstra
    Phil was born at an early age. He cleaned out his savings at age 8 in order to buy a TI99-4A computer for the sum of $450. Two years later he learned 6502 assembly and has been hacking computers and electronics ever since. Phil currently works as a professor at a private Midwestern university. He teaches computer security and forensics. His current research focus involves use of microcontrollers and small embedded computers for forensics and pentesting. Prior to entering academia, Phil held several high level positions at well-known US companies. He holds a couple of the usual certs one might expect for someone in his position. Phil is also an accomplished aviator with several thousand hours of flight time. He holds 12 ratings including instructor, commerical pilot, mechanic, inspector, and avionics tech. When not working, he likes to spend time with his family, fly, hack electronics, and has been known to build airplanes.

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