Hybrid Warfare

First Physical Retaliation for a Cyberattack:

CLEARED FOR RELEASE: We thwarted an attempted Hamas cyber offensive against Israeli targets. Following our successful cyber defensive operation, we targeted a building where the Hamas cyber operatives work.

HamasCyberHQ.exe has been removed. pic.twitter.com/AhgKjiOqS7

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 5, 2019

In case you ever doubted how seriously states would take cyber attacks.

Bad USB Devices

New Offensive USB Cable Allows Remote Attacks over WiFi - scary stuff. That's why you need to wrap your dongle.

Lord British is a robot!

Lifehacker does a "How I Work" series and asks people about their hacks, battle stations, tools, etc. They recently interviewed Richard Garriott aka Lord British. I had not thought about Ultima in a long time. And it was interesting to read about his use of a tele-presence robot.

TYT MD-380: Shmoocon Firetalks 2016 Video

I've been reading on this TYT MD-380 hacking stuff, but didn't catch that Travis Goodspeed is an East TN/Knoxville guy.

TYT MD-380: Purchasing and Videos

I posted about being able to hack the TYT MD-380 and pointed to my Amazon link for purchasing. I forgot that my friends at BuyTwoWayRadios.com have them as well. (Remember modifying the radios may void your warranty, so don't expect them or anyone else to replace the radio if you brick it!)

The BuyTwoWayRadios site has a couple of videos about the MD-380:

TYT MD-380: Hacked!

At Hackaday:

"Every once in a great while, a piece of radio gear catches the attention of a prolific hardware guru and is reverse engineered. A few years ago, it was the RTL-SDR, and since then, software defined radios became the next big thing. Last weekend at Shmoocon, [Travis Goodspeed] presented his reverse engineering of the Tytera MD380 digital handheld radio. The hack has since been published in PoC||GTFO 0x10 (56MB PDF, mirrored) with all the gory details that turn a $140 radio into the first hardware scanner for digital mobile radio."

You can get the MD-380 from various Amazon sellers. I first posted about this radio in May of last year with a link to a review by VA3XPR.

Ripe for Abuse

So using this idea, setup a rule for a "friend" in their Outlook when they are away from their desk. Have it trigger on some common e-mail they get frequently. Hilarity and a fist fight ensue.

Bunnie Interview on CSDN.net

Makers, fixers, open-source hardware, technology and more... some quotes below from Bunnie's interview with "CSDN.net, which stands for 'China Software Developer Network', or more colloquially, “Programmer Magazine.'"

It all starts with radio... of course, that is how I read it...

"In 1960, for all practical purposes there was only hardware, and it was all open. When you bought a transistor radio, it had its schematic printed in the back. If it broke, you had to fix it yourself. It was popular to buy kits to make your own radios."

Of course, you might break a few things along the way to becoming a magician...

"The Maker movement, I think, is less about developing products, and more about developing people. It’s about helping people realize that technology is something man-made, and because of this, every person has the power to control it: it just takes some knowledge. There is no magic in technology. Another way to look at it is, we can all be magicians with a little training."

And the company shouldn't have to meet any warranty obligations if a user breaks the hardware...

"I believe users should “own” their hardware, and “owning” means having the right to modify, change, etc. including root access rights. If the company has a concern about users being unsafe, then it’s easy enough to include an “opt-out” where users can simply select an electronic waiver form, and give up their support and warranty right to gain access to their own machine. Most people who care to root their machine are already smarter than the phone support they would be calling inside the company, so anyways it’s not a problem."

The DDoS That Almost Broke the Internet

arrington The DDoS That Almost Broke the Internet post.ly/AJ8GF via @CloudFlare Wed, Mar 27 14:38:54 from Tweet Button

Baofeng UV-3R: Firmware Hacking

I'm way behind on this topic, but I am posting this in case you haven't see it at all. Lior is working on a custom firmware for the UV-3R. (He started with the UV-5R, but moved to the UV-3R when the project looked to be easier.)

If you have suggestions for features, he's started a thread on the UV-3R Yahoo Group.

Hacking the Papal Election

Bruce evaluates the security of the Papal election process. So not very hackable, but I think they should add some drama to the vote counting.

On-Line Banking PSA

Here is my public service announcement for the week: Tips for Safer Internet Banking. Some good tips like using the mobile apps. I use the mobile app for my bank, but primarily for the convenience -  I hate driving to  the bank to deposit a $32 check. Extra security is a bonus!

DIY Arduino

It almost seems like EXTREME DIY!! hacking when you build your own Arduino.

All Your Device Are Belong to Us

There isn't a ton of technical details to be had in the presentation, but it seems too easy for all of these devices to be hacked/disrupted. I agree that a better user interface on the P25 radio might solve the encryption problem, but I still think people will be one of the weakest links.

 

(All Your Device Are Belong to US is a reference to this.)

Printer Hack

Hide ya kids. Hide ya wife. Hide ya printers.

Stratfor Hacked

I occasionally see some of the Stratfor articles - thanks to a friend. They provide a good analysis of what is going on in the world and draw conclusions for what this might mean. Apparently, anonymous decided that meant they were the "bad guys" and therefore hacked the Stratfor site - including e-mails, a list of clients, and credit card information.

What I found very interesting was the response to the hacking on Slashdot. Generally, Slashdot has a liberal lean with a good measure of conspiracy theory tossed in along with an air of superiority stemming for the users' mad computer skillz. I was surprised how they (for the most part) vilified anonymous while defending Stratfor. There may be hope for humanity yet.

Kindle Fire - Rooted and Source Code

Let the hacking begin!

Nook Color Android

So I've been playing with my Nook Color Android tablet. My reference points are an iPad2 (the gold standard for tablets) and my Droid Pro phone (running Android). My first impressions were favorable and that has not changed.

I like the 7" form factor. It is very usable and takes up less space in my bag than does the iPad.

The battery life doesn't seem to be as good as the iPad. I've not done any specific testing, but my gut says I'm charging it more often with roughly equivalent usage. I don't think this is a Nook issue - more of an Android problem. My Droid Pro has mysterious battery sucking apps running that fix themselves.

Unlike the Droid Pro, some applications (Google Reader for one) occasionally blow up and have to be restarted on the Nook Color Android. This doesn't happen very frequently, but I've almost never seen it on the Droid Pro.

Overall, a few hiccups but a great value at half the price of an iPad.

Android Nook

Less than 24 hours with it, but I like it.

HP Touchpad & Nook Color Update

Too bad I couldn't find a $99 HP Touchpad, since the Android port is coming. Obviously, that would have been cheaper than my Nook Color Android.

Paul points out that the Nook Color can be had from the BN ebay store (Item: 120758870326) for $180 with free shipping. Also, he links to the XDA forum for hacking the Nook Color.